Thanks to my friend sashalemon96 for writing a significant amount of this report with me!

SECTION 1: CUT SKETCHES

All quoted dialogue is approximate, I do not have an eidetic memory. Also, I interchangeably use cast and character names because not every character is named, and I try to defer to in-sketch pronouns.
MOM NEWS
INT. A newsroom set. Squirm and Rudolph plays reporters on a local news station called “Mom News,” featuring them and their correspondents. All characters are referred to as “your mom” or “your father” in their introductions and provide very mother-like commentary. News stories include: “Something bad has happened to someone you barely know,” and “your mom accidentally left a reply to a post on Facebook about a funeral with a gif of “Uncle Fester spinning a cane.”
They then turn to the weather report by Fineman, who does a Kristen Wiig voice to say the weather is going to be “gorgeous” and “stunning.” Day, as “your dad,” gives a breaking special report that your “neighbor down the street got one of those Teslas,” then pauses then adds “Yeah, that’s it.” P. Johnson and Troast then report on entertainment news. They show a photo of Zendaya at the Met Gala, and then Troast says that Zendaya is “too skinny” and Johnson says “she needs to eat a cheeseburger.” Squirm then sidebars to Maya to say, “You know Zendaya is dating Tim Holland?” Another story features Kearney warning that if you receive a “spam likely” call, you should make sure to pick it up because there’s probably an issue with your bank and you should buy as many Target gift cards as they ask for. Gardner reports on “something you’ve known about for years,” as she’s recently discovered boba before having issues with her technology and playing the Spanish language soccer channel.
Finally, Nwodim and Thompson play a couple, “your mom and your dad.” In a snappy, well-rehearsed, back-and-forth, Thompson reveals that he had tried to fix the broken water heater and failed, and now Nwodim can hold this over his head forever. Nwodim: “And this means you’ll be wearing what at our next dinner?” Thompson: “That ugly ass shirt.” Nwodim: “Sorry, what was that?” Thompson, cowed: “...The nice shirt you bought me, I mean.” which he initially refers to as an “ugly ass shirt.” The anchors end the segment with the news after the break: “a worrying shift in my political opinions” and an “out-of-pocket comment about your dad’s penis.”
BARRY THE MIDWIFE [recurring]
This is a sequel to the original BARRY THE MIDWIFE sketch from the Quinta Brunson/Jonas Brothers episode in Season 48.
Structured in a series of flash-forwards and flashbacks Barry, the midwife, and a doula played by Rudolph, bickering with each other before reconciling. The doula was either “Carla” or “Carly,” I don’t quite remember.
INT. Birth #1 [present]: Troast is delivering, and Hernandez is the father. JAJ is the doctor, but Rudolph is the doula, and Yang is Barry the Midwife. The doula and midwife speak with the same odd pronunciations of words, like “curious” as “curr-ous” and “Paris” as “per-ous.” They also sport the same awkward bob. They have competing catchphrases; Barry keeps saying “Clear a path. Clear a path.” whereas the doula keeps saying “Make a hole. Make a hole.” The doula says, “It’s nice to meet you,” to Barry, which offends him. “Um, actually, we’ve met. Remember? We met in a hot tub after the season finale of Survivor in 2000 when we were both upset that Richard Hatch won.” The doula: “Oh, I guess I don’t remember that.” Barry: “Well, while you were trying to remember, I was delivering this baby.” He casually holds up a baby doll.
INT. Birth #2 [4 years later]: This time, the expecting parents are P. Johnson and Kearney. The doula enters and says “Nice to see you again,” but Barry pretends not to remember her. The doula: “What? Barry, we first met in a hot tub after the season finale of Survivor in 2000 when we were both upset that Richard Hatch won. And then we met again four years earlier.” Barry says the doula has an “elephant memory” for remembering something from 28 years ago, followed by “Girl! respect yourself.” Barry also gets mad when the doula says he’s clearly been copying her hair (at this point they both have long, flowing, silky black tresses). Barry ends with “While you were busy accusing me, I just delivered these triplets. Lesbos always have extros.” He holds up three baby dolls in one arm.
EXT. Hot tub [24 years ago]: Barry and the doula bond over their dislike of the season finale of Survivor while in the hot tub. Barry also adds “I love your hair. I might copy it one day.” (The doula has the exact same awkward bob as in the first scene.) The two suddenly make a pact to marry each other if they are both still single by the 50th anniversary of that night’s episode of Survivor.
INT. Birth #3 [26 years later]: Since Rudolph and Yang were just submerged in a real hot tub in the other set, they’re asked by the new couple (I don’t remember who these are, maybe Garnder and Day?) why they’re soaking wet. Yang’s excuse: “I just did a water birth. Girl, respect yourself.” The doula’s excuse: “It was raining outside and I fell on my head. Girl, respect yourself.” At this point, their long, flowing tresses are now grey with age. Barry then turns and says to the doula, “It’s nice to meet you,” and she finally confronts him: “Aren’t you tired of being petty?”. Barry gives in and says, “It’s nice to see you,” and reminds her of their 50-year pact which is approaching the next week.
EXT. HOT TUB [26 years and 1 week later] The two marry in the hot tub (in makeshift wedding regalia) and Squirm gets in the hot tub to throw two babies at them.
\** Editorial note from sashalemon96: “I think the reason this one didn’t land as well as the one for Brunson is because (at least during dress) they throw the baby into the fire and it starts smoking screen creating laughter as they run to the other set. They also took a very long time to get back and from the hot tub set to the hospital set.”****
JAMES AUSTIN JOHNSON AS BRIAN COX [update character]
Jost tees this up by explaining that lately, Brian Cox has been in the news for his many controversial opinions, such as “Jeremy Strong being annoying” or “the Bible being the worst book ever written.” Brian Cox is fed up with the Kendrick LamaDrake beef. He refers to them as a pair of “second-rate poets” and acts mock scared that “K. Dot” will throw his Pulitzer at him. Che follows up with “What about Drake?” and Cox replied, “What is Drake going to do? Have his fans throw their fidget spinners at me?” Cox also expresses mock sympathy that they’re hurting each others’ feelings, before suggesting the two men “go to Iraq.” Che warns that Cox shouldn’t be talking shit about the two rappers, but Cox retorts “What are they going to do—blow my top off like the Boeing whistleblowers?” and then mocks Kendrick’s height. At one point Cox ends a sentence with “and that’s on God… who doesn’t exist, by the way.” Cox then throws some shade at Che for his inability to find a wife even though Jost married an Avenger, adding “can you not find a woman who wants your Ant-Man sized penis?”

SECTION 2: ORIGINAL DRESS RUNDOWN

1. COLD OPEN
2. MONOLOGUE
3. HOT ONES [recurring]
4. PDD: EXPLORE PAGE [pretape]
5. MOM NEWS ✂️
6. BARRY THE MIDWIFE [recurring] ✂️
7. CAN YOU PICK ME UP [pretape]
8. T.T. AND MARIO [recurring] ✂️
9. WEEKEND UPDATE: SQUIRM , GARDNER , JAJ ✂️
10. TIP TOP COFFEE
11. MOM JEANS [archival] [pretape]
12. TEACHER PSA
13. BRITISH CAVEMEN
14. NURSE APPRECIATION
15. LANDSCAPERS

SECTION 3: CHANGES FROM DRESS TO AIR

I’m gonna be so real with you guys, these days I’m so tired I just go home after dress rehearsal and sleep through the live show, so these changes are submitted by another friend.

1. In dress, Colin was specified to be wearing a “Stormy Daniels wig” during the monologue, in hopes that he could be in the political sketch about the Trump trials.
2. The original first excuse Rudolph comes up with in CAN YOU PICK ME UP was that the dead grandma didn’t want her funeral to interfere with work.
3. The joke about “Republicans in bed with Trump” was added afte dress.
4. TEACHER PSA didn’t originally end with Nwodim telling the girl to sit down. I don’t remember the original ending, but I remember it was kind of weak.

SECTION 4: SUNDRY NOTES

1. Ezra Koenig said “Hi, Maya!” right before they started performing.
2. There were a bunch of off-screen mistakes during the dress version of NURSE AD. Poor Fineman had the wrong cue cards when it came to one of her lines, and she looked genuinely terrified when trying to figure out what she was supposed to say. Then the camera cut to her when it was supposed to be on Rudolph and P. Johnson. Finally, she randomly had a sneeze attack during JAJ’s lines. I’ve never thought about what happens when you sneeze on SNL before, lol.
3. Interestingly enough, there were two cameras for LANDSCAPERS but only one set of cue cards, so Wally had to dash back and forth with the same set of cue cards every time we changed scenes. I’ve also never seen that happen before. Poor Wally!

He spins around right 'round, baby, right 'round. Like a record, baby, right round, 'round, 'round
Previous part: 6.
Like always, I've missed some sort of controversy happening in the FNAF community. But this time I had something to say about it as it relates to the lore side of things!
A week ago... Before Scott came and revealed that The Talbert Files were all fake and he had never seen nor written them. I was late to the party this time but next to I'll be on time!
But to boil down what I said, The Talbert Files has outdated information and is unusable to us theorists. Do not use anything in this book to make a point in the current story of the games.
Oh and of course, this controversy came from Twitter or X or whatever. If these past few games have told me anything, it's that being connected to a network for any long periods of time is very bad for your mental health and safety~
And basically, that was the gist of what would've been probably the longest intro ever.
For those new to this series or who have lost which part or place they're on, check out The Jonsie Burrows: Help Wanted 2: Tables of contents to find where you want to go! If you haven't seen any of my stuff before then...
Hello, this is something you might have missed in Help Wanted 2.
Previously Post Interesting things:

1. Our main character, HW Jeremy, Cassie's dad, is already wearing the Security Mask before we even start the game. This means Glitchtrap has access to his mind and body. As for what that entails...
2. Help Wanted 2's AMask-on version of the FNAF6 Pizzaria might be based on Micheal's canonical look for it near the end of Pizzaria Simulator.
3. After completing each minigame, a party hat, plate, and cup will appear on the table next to you. Whose party are we attending as a guest?
4. The protagonist of Help Wanted 2 is HW Jeremy, discovered through the color blue items which are prominent in the game and used for his name and shirt in Ruin. Jeremy was a former employee of Circus Baby's Entertainment and Rental and may have been present during the events of Sister Location.
5. In the First Aid minigame of Help Wanted 2, the "GET WELL SOON!" drawings depict Baby's life as seen through Vanny's eyes, hinting towards the game's secret ending. These drawings also reveal that Baby's data card from Sister Location was inside Helpy in Pizzeria Simulator and survived the fire. As a result, her programming was eventually absorbed into the Pizzaplex's Network, leading to her appearance in Help Wanted 2.
6. Glitchtrap may have collected the souls and memories of the original dead kids into the Pizzaplex's Network and in this game, Jeremy is going into Glitchtrap's memories.
7. Help Wanted 2's Fizz Faz minigame's location is the same but different location in Security Breach. They both have identical objects placed in the exact place as each other, giving evidence to the fact that Jeremy is physically moving to certain locations in the Pizzaplex when clicking on the minigames.
8. Helpi in this game is indeed Glitchtrap in disguise. Unlike Ruin, Helpi is not his own entity in this game because we're not connected to the V.A.N.N.I. network due to being in the FNAF6 pizzeria. The V.A.N.N.I. network only covers the entire Pizzaplex but doesn't go past the door to the underground in Roxy Raceway. Glitchtrap has a preference for using proxies and decoys to communicate with the unsuspected to get them to do what he wants.

Now back to our unregularly scheduled series!
​
"The carousel is broken. Fix it!" That was what greeted you in the void along with a pictograph of a carousel. It sounded very simple but you knew better now.
"Fix all the broken fuses, then replace any broken switches and turn on the power."
"Repair the circuit board. Don't forget to solder in new wires with the soldering gun." Were the rest of the instructions given to you for this task, hovered over the "START" button but before you pressed it, a new sound reverberated in the void.
There was always a noise, a certain ambiance in this place of darkness. Whether it be the sound of blowing air or some distant jingle, there was always something to occupy the ears. But this was different.
It was like the noise of someone pulling a wire along a corner very fast, like the sound of something struggling to play out of a static radio, a blare of a machine in motion that started malfunctioning. Whatever description one wanted to use, it didn't change the fact that it was getting increasingly louder.
But before you hear more of it or even figure out what it was. Your hand betrayed you and completed the motion of pressing the "START" button. Whisking you off to your next destination over the cover of darkness.
​
Okay, that's it! I've got to find this ambiance in the Help Wanted 2 soundtrack! It's driving me nuts! Alright, I've got good news and bad news. The good news is that I found the exact track that plays in the void! It's called Main Menu Ambiance or as its file name refers to it, ambience_main_menu. The bad news is that this sound I'm hearing is not there.
This means one of two things, this track has a different variant of it somewhere in the soundtrack, or the sound belongs to some animatronic or creature in the game.
Personally, I hoping for the former as that's much, much easier to find as the latter requires me to rip open the game for the sound. What makes this even more difficult is that it might be randomized to play while in the void and pretty much everyone doesn't stay in the void any longer than to read the instructions, claim their prizes from the claws, or press the "RESTART" button in the "GAME OVER" void.
(Although I haven't gone over the "GAME OVER" void yet in this series, I have heard it play in there too on my searching through other people's playthroughs of the game.)
Time to go back to searching for this mysterious sound.
I can't find it. I've searched YouTube but there aren't a lot of people uploading the entire soundtrack to this game and the one who has doesn't have it listed in their playlist of 769 videos. Oh, joy! It looks like we have our first Help Wanted 2 mystery! What a coincidence considering my last post.
So for now, I'm going to leave the research for this until I write out Help Wanted 2 Mysteries: The Mysterious Sound in the Void. But to leave you all hanging and confused about what exactly I'm hearing, I'll give you the timestamp of the walkthrough I heard it from right here.
Now, let's see what awaits us at the Carousel.
"Attention, This Carousel is out of service and will require repairs before we open tomorrow."
The Daycare Attendant, Sun, spoke from somewhere close by in this new environment you found yourself in. You were standing inside a Carousel in a dark room, the only light source seemed to be a light from above as you faced an open panel on the central pillar in the middle of it. Inside the panel, live currents of electricity crackled and popped as they ran across and through yellow wires into two out of six fuses that the wire ran through.
The fuses were in two vertical parallel rows, and the yellow wire ran in and out of one row and went back through in the next until the very last row where it came out of the last bulb and disappeared into the side of the panel. Judging by how the two fuses were lit as the electric current went through and the other four were unlit with no visible electric current going through them, you bet a greasy pizza that you'll need to replace those four fuses.
"That is the end of my instruction. If I had been programmed with the knowledge to fix it, it would have already been done." That would've been nice, but you think they would've just gotten another broken carousel for you to fix.
During your listening to his speech, you figure that "Sun" was only just a recording as his voice had a sort of radio-like quality to it that sounded much like it was recorded at an earlier date.
To your left was a stand with three hatches opened, showing off items within them while what looked to be colorful wires sat on a small divot in the stand.
To your right, was an interesting set of items that seemed very out of place to you. There was a small rectangular haystack that sat on the right side of the pillar, with a skinny pumpkin and an oil lantern. What are they doing here? (What indeed, but perhaps there's a clue around here.)
A brief look around showed you that the area outside the carousel was blindingly dark, but grabbing the flashlight that sat on the tool cabinet-like stand on your left and flicking it on, revealed what was hidden in the darkness.
Further from you, were the carousel seats that took after the appearances of some of the classic Freddy's animatronics. You see with the help of your flashlight, you see a classic (FNAF1) Bonnie seat, a classic (FNAF1) Chica seat, a classic (FNAF1) Mr. Cupcake, Toy Freddy, and Toy Foxy? Weird, you've usually seen Toy Foxy in their mangle variant rather than their fixed state.
(Despite the darkness and the unmangled form of this white foxy, you can actually tell which of the closely resembling Foxys it represents. While Scott did make Funtime Foxy, (From Sister Location, not FNAF World) very similar to Mangle/Toy Foxy. He did make them slightly distinct from each other in the coloring department besides their different structures.
The official model of Funtime Foxy(Sister location) actually has dark pink cheeks while Mangle/Toy Foxy has rosy-red cheeks just like the rest of their Toy companions. So this carousel is really repping FNAF 2-era, I wonder why...)
You thought you saw balloons at the edge of your flashlight, but before you could verify it, something spoke close by from where you were standing.
"The merry-go-round broke down." The slightly hoarse, raspy voice ended with a snicker as you struggled to find the source of it. Something was definitely in the dark room with you. (Hey Moon!)
You the source continued to elude you before you gave up and focused on the problem in front of you. Waisting time to find the voice was a fool's game, your best bet was to quickly fix this problem within the panel before the voice became a problem for you.
Still, you felt that you knew that voice.
Out you pulled the broken fuses and set them on the side, in went the new fuses you took from the hatch in the stand one by one as they came out of the hatch. Once you put the final new fuses, the pillar in front began to spin, and dozens of mini yellow lightbulbs lit up on its side.
Lights in the distance flickered on and music from the carousel started playing. (Carousel: Doomsday Ride Phase 1.) The pillar came to a stop on its next side but the outer ring full of rides of the carousel continued to spin clockwise around you. It's there where you spotted the one behind the voice and finally put a name to the foggy figure in your memory, Moon, the Daycare Attendant's other personality.
And the most difficult one to deal with. But you knew how to deter this side of him, you thought as you pointed your flashlight at his face as he rode a Bonnie seat in the outer ring of the carousel.
"What makes you so special?"
You heard him say as he started to shake his head from the brightness of the light, but you handled your flashlight well to keep the light on his face before he fell off the Bonnie seat with a frustrated and agony-filled growl from overexposure.
​
And there it is! The most important line in this game! This line is a hint at the hidden ongoings within Help Wanted 2, a hint towards our mysterious protagonist's identity, and a hint that things are not what they seem in this game.
Or at least that's the excitement I would've felt when we finally got to this line in the game if I hadn't already spoiled everything during the Circus Baby and Helpi discoveries in the First Aid minigames!
Now, I really don't have much to say regarding the "What makes you so special?" line or any new thoughts about it. Maybe that'll change in the future, but for now, let's focus on another unexpected return in the form of the villainous side of the Daycare Attendant.
Yep, that's right. Just like Circus Baby, this is the actual Moon from Security Breach and Ruin! Unlike Circus Baby though, we have a precedent from Ruin for the Daycare Attendant to be able to appear in the Network, which this "game" is connected to, even in the FNAF6 pizzeria.
Honestly, I probably wouldn't I gotten that far in uncovering as much as did in Help Wanted 2 if I hadn't discovered that little hidden tidbit about Sun and Moon's network switched mechanic thing they have going on.
But for those who don't remember or don't know what I'm talking about you can read where I first talked about it in the fourth section of my "Roxy's true purpose" post. But to summarize it for those who don't want to click the link and go more in-depth about it for those who do, one of the oddest and unexplained moments that occurs in Ruin, is Sun talking to Cassie in the AR world while Moon speaking in the real world.
Back then, It always puzzled me when Sun said "Not me! The other me!" when approached by Cassie with the mask on to reboot him. And afterward, when the Daycare Attendant has been rebooted into Eclipse, Cassie could hear Sun say "thank you" in the real world after Eclipse left her outside of the daycare, even though he should've been gone with the reboot.
But the missing pieces to figure out this Daycare Attendant puzzle come in three, the Security Mask, the Faz-Wrench, and the Network. It is very important to remember what the first two actually do in Ruin and to not forget how the AR world exists.
The Security Mask lets you view the Pizzaplex through Augmented Reality, a digitally altered perception of reality influenced and dictated by Fazbear Entertainment (and Glitchtrap) and by the sub-network of the main network of the Pizzaplex.
That mask also has another function it, which is hinted in the name of its sub-network, V.A.N.N.I. or Virtual Augmented Neural Network Integration Unit. The Security Mask, with your consent under normal circumstances I presume, implants your brain with an occipital transponder. This implant allows you to retain some visual perks of V.A.N.N.I. like Helpi the onboard assistant who could still show up to assist you without the mask.
But this implant is a double-edged sword in truth. This implant is permanently attached to your brain and is constantly feeding information from and to your brain to the network. The Pizzaplex's Network holds a lot of information, like guest profiles for those who enter the Pizzaplex, the security system that safeguards and watches over everything, the various data collection regarding each location within the Pizzaplex, and is connected to every single animatronic/bot within the Pizzaplex.
The Network is a valuable tool for the employees and Fazbear Entertainment, providing plentiful assistance in various tasks. However, the situation regarding the implant would not have been grave had there not been a sinister entity lurking within the network. Glitchtrap now has complete access to a person's brain without their knowledge, posing a significant unknown threat to those who have it.
If you want to know what Glitchtrap is capable of doing to someone implanted with the occipital transponder, just read my Security Mask and Cassie being controlled post.
This leaves us with the unassuming Faz-Wrench, a tool that almost goes unnoticed by practically everyone. But like any tool, it will shine best when used for its purpose. That is besides being used as a simple tool for the simple conduit puzzle, it's a powerful tool to connect, activate, and deactivate everything connected to the Network.
So applying everything I've said to the Daycare Attendant situation in Ruin, then you can figure out many secret things about him that were unsaid.

1. When one of the Daycare Attendant's personalities is dominant or in the foreground, the subservient one will still be active in the background and is still aware of what's happening around him. Yes, this means that Sun knows about Vanny, Moon, and Glitchtrap, and what happens to Moon's victims. I still wouldn't label him a villain, just complacent, because he still hasn't hurt or harmed anyone even with all the information we've gained from the books and games.
2. If Cassie had used the Faz-Wrench while wearing the mask, she would have deactivated the Sun persona and disconnected the Daycare Attendant from the Network. This might've led to him completely shutting down and deactivating as The Daycare Attendant is connected to a lot of things within the network. If not, it would just leave Moon as the dominant personality. (For those thinking this would be a good thing for the villains, remember that Moon would still be severely sensitive to light and useless in any lit environments. Eclipse was the best option for villains regarding the Daycare Attendant.)
3. The Daycare Attendant is active in the Network at all times when functional. In fact, I believe that the Sun and Moon weren't exactly removed from the Daycare Attendant's data once Eclipse was made the dominant personality from the reboot as the fact that Sun can still communicate with Cassie even after Eclipse takes over backs this up. I'll even go as far as to say that Sun and Moon are still around but can only interact with anyone through the network.

This brings us back to Help Wanted 2's carousel minigame and Moon's presence within it. If you had no doubt guess with all the information above about how Moon here, is actually Moon, then let me spell it out for those struggle to make sense of what I'm saying.
The Moon that's appearing here is the same Moon we first met in Security Breach. As for how? The Daycare Attendant is much more connected to the Network than all other animatronics as he is the only one who can actually talk to someone through it rather than playing past voice lines as we see from the other Glamrocks in the AR world.
And it's here in Help Wanted 2 that it's revealed that he's fully conscious enough to travel through the networks and sub-networks and interact with anyone and anything integrated into it, i.e. Vanny, Cassie, Jeremy, and Glitchtrap.
Oh, and as for why he has a physical body here, this is just a digital form created by whatever program that "Help Wanted 2" is in-universe as Ruin showed us through the M.X.E.S. Entity and M.X.E.S. program that digital entities can appear to have a physical form through their programs and can be viewed the Security Mask.
If Moon didn't the "Help Wanted 2" program to help create a digital body, he would most likely appear as a motionless digital creation like that Giant endo in Fazbear Theator or probably wouldn't even have a form and be like an invisible ghost that you can only hear. (That sounds like a great idea for an enemy in a future game. Steel Wool if you're reading this, I have no ownership over this idea, so it's free to use!)
However, I don't think before the reboot into Eclipse, that both Sun and Moon could be in the Network at the same time. One of them has to occupy their physical body while the other waits for their turn in the network.
In Ruin, Moon was occupying the body most of the time while Sun was stuck and talking to Cassie through the network, and at no point did we hear Moon talking through it.
So since Help Wanted 2 is a prequel to Ruin and in turn pre-Eclipse. The opposite must be happening here with the Daycare Attendant in regards to who occupies the body and whose in the Network, because from what I remember from the entire game, Sun gives not a single hint that he's the real one rather than a simple digital recreation.
This means that during the entirety of Help Wanted 2, Sun is presently occupying the Daycare Attendant's body while Moon is present in the Network and interacting with/observing Jeremy while following Glitchtrap's, and secretly Vanny's, orders.
Which then begs the question, is this Moon in the carousel minigame the same one in the Arts and Crafts and Foxy Log Ride minigames? Or to rephrase it, are the other minigames' Moons just digital recreations?
I'm not sure, but it's something to look out for in the future when we get to those minigames. But for now, I'm going to hold off on making any Moon "Prove it!" post until we cover those minigames. Now, let's finish this minigame.
​
The Pillar had stopped to show a new panel for you to solve that had three dial knobs and a missing one from top to bottom, alternating from side to side with three wires running through all of them.
Already having an idea of what to do, you quickly turn the first two dial knobs and watch electricity flow through them. But when you got to the third one it came off as soon as you touched it, falling to the ground and out of sight.
Oh no! What could you do now?! Panic started to creep in as Moon's laughter reached your ears. This time sounding a lot closer than before. Quickly looking around for both Moon and another way to fix the panel, you spotted a spare dial knob in one of three hatches on the stand beside you. Grabbing it and another for the knob-less fourth one, you speedily attached them and turned them for the electric current to go through all of them.
Snatching up your flashlight, you desperately searched for Moon as more of the carousel ride became alive with more moving seats, more lights, and more energetic music to accompany it. FF(Carousel: Doomsday Ride Phase 2.)
You even saw more of the seats that were obscure in the darkness before. There was a Toy Bonnie seat, a Toy Chica seat, a Classic (FNAF1) Freddy seat, and finally balloons in a barrel seat which is where you found Moon ridding before you flashed your light at him, causing him to scream and fall off it.
(Hmm... No FNAF1 Foxy. Oh! And just to clarify, I'm referring to these seats as 'classic' because they are likely modeled after the original withered animatronics, rather than the restored ones we met in FNAF1.")
Returning to face the new problem panel on a different side of the pillar, you were met with a circuit board with frayed wires, with a small display screen on top of it and a big red button underneath it. There was also some kind of blue gun beneath all of that, in a holster built into this side of the central pillar.
Luckily, it seems that someone thought to help you out on what you were supposed to do here as there was a clipboard board hanging on the side of the pillar with a paper attached to it. The paper titled "SOLDERING INSTRUCTIONS" was exactly as the title said, showing what you want to do with the circuit board.
It didn't look like you could use the one on the pillar, so you took it off and grabbed a new one that you spotted in the third hatch and put that on the pillar swiftly. You grabbed a couple of wires that were sitting on the stand and pulled out what you previously thought was a blue gun that was actually the smoldering gun and quickly went to work as Moon ominously snickered from somewhere very close around you.
"Naughty Naughty."
One, two. Only two wires you managed to solder onto the circuit board before you pushed your luck to your breaking point and grabbed the flashlight in one smooth motion as turned around and looked for Moon. The goodness you found him immediately, the bad news is he's just one seat away from where you're standing.
Acting quickly before he could move close and bring death along with him, you flashed your light at him, sending him over the seat in agony. Not even bothering to see him completely go over the seat, you finished soldering the last wire and smacked the big red button underneath it.
And loud alarm sounded throughout the area as the pillar stayed put this time, but the closest seats around you started to spin with the rest of the carousel and the music became jumbled. (Carousel: Doomsday Ride Phase 3.) A timer lit up and started counting down from 1 minute on the screen above the circuit board along with the following words: Time Until Reset.
Let like you need to survive until the reset happens as there is nothing else for you to fix. So grabbing your flashlight again, you prepared yourself as could be to last 1 minute of Moon's onslaught. During this terrifying minute, sparks shot out from beneath the ceiling of the carousel as all the lights inside it turned all. But if Moon wasn't enough to deal with, a fire appeared at the farthest end of the area you were in as the lights flickered off and on while the carousel continued to dangerously spark from different places on the machine.
(Hmm... Could this be the event that gave the Daycare Attendant his Ruined appearance?! This actually might be it!)
As machinery grind and screeched, the fire multiplied, the sparks became numerous, and Moon was relentless, but eventually... The carousel came to a stop after you repelled Moon with your light once again as another alarm sound rang out. Turning around you saw the timer was at zero, meaning your work here was finally done. The last thing you heard was another Sun recording shouting "Ho, ho!" before darkness whisked you away and dropped you into the "GAME WON!" void.
Immediately, under the usual children's congratulations scream, your ears picked up that mysterious sound you heard earlier. The unknown sound, similar to that of an old radio distortion, lingered in the void until it faded away, leaving the usual ambiance of the void.
(What. Is. IT?!)
With no answer for the mysterious sound and no way to discover it, you pushed its existence to the back of your mind and pressed the claw machine button to claim your hard-earned prize. But before you grabbed your capsules out of the machine you heard a new sound... (What?)
It sounded like middle c on a Xylophone, maybe a bit deeper than that. It repeated itself in a quick 1, 2, beat in the same pitch then repeated itself an octave higher in the same pattern before disappearing.
(Am I being prank? Maybe there's something wrong with the video I'm watching, I don't remember hearing this anywhere else. Then again, the other YouTubers I'm watching talk a lot or just quickly move on when in the void. This requires further investigation. Okay, I've just checked a completely different Youtuber and found that, yes, this is a real sound in the game and not an edit. If you would like to hear this, I timestamped it here. It goes by very quick, so listen closely.
But on the sound itself. I don't why but I'm getting Daycare vibes from this. I might need to take another look at that place in Ruin and maybe even Security Breach for some kind of clue. After all, we do find Jeremy's shirt in the Daycare for some reason...)
The prize this time was a Carousel Toy which was fitting to you as you pressed the "RETURN TO HUB" button and were blinded by darkness and found yourself back at the restaurant. A quick survey of around you, showed that nothing has changed, except for something new sitting on the red-clothed table next to Mystic Hippo. It was your carousel toy that you've won.
You picked it up and gave it a once over, noticing Classic Freddy, Bonnie, and Freddy as the only seats to it and that it had a Sun & Moon theme appearance. (Not the Daycare Attendant but the actual Sun & Moon.)
You sat the toy back down, glanced at Mystic Hippo, and then returned to the computer in the middle of the room. (I'm still not sure about Mystic Hippo but I go over that at a later date.) You clicked the Ticket Booth folder and found that the last two files were unlocked for it. Captn. Foxy's Log Ride and another glitched and broken file.
What? I thought that there was another Carousel minigame! Well, I guess I'll talk about some of the other stuff I was going to research for now, instead of later. First, let's talk about the carousel itself, I can only remember one game that had a carousel in it and that's FNAF 2. And that's before I saw that the seats were making references to it too.
However, looking through all the locations in that game reveals that while there is a carousel in it, it's hilariously skinny compared to the one here. That's not even going into how it looks completely different. In fact, I think it might be a non-functional prop. So that's a dead-end.
And finally the haystack and the pumpkin, not much to say about it besides being another hint to this FALL FEST thing going on in the new era games. Now, the lantern on the other hand was something that stood out to me as there were a couple of lanterns that stood out to me in Ruin. The one in Vanny's room and the one in Roxy Raceway pt 2. Unfortunately, neither of them was a match for the lantern in the carousel minigame.
This leaves us with one last place to look for a match, Help Wanted: Dreadbear DLC. Oh? I think we might've found something! In the hub world for the DLC, the lamppost lanterns have a remarkably similar design to the lantern in Help Wanted 2. Of course, the Dreadbear lamppost lanterns are too far away to truly know if they're truly one and the same, but maybe we can find something else in this DLC.
I know exactly the one more place we can check to find a lantern, the secret basement containing the Vanny you unlock in the Corn Maze minigame. And "Ding, ding, ding ding!" We have a match! Now what it means for the carousel minigame is unknown to me at this date in time.
Possibly, there's a connection here to the Dreadbear DLC. Maybe this "game" was also a DLC to the original Help Wanted in-universe. Or maybe this scenario happened around the sametime as Dreadbear DLC depicts its FALL FEST in, 1983.
But like I said, I need to sit on this and see if I can find some other connections. Other than that, scoping through the Dreadbear DLC has given me some thoughts about certain things. I'll discuss it in the next part, so let's wrap this up.
So it's the only one available to do, you clicked on Capt. Foxy's Log Ride and saw what its pop-up window had to show you. "Set sail for adventure with Capt. Foxy! Pillage and plunder a town of Wild West landlubbers!"
What a mashup of settings were your thoughts before you clicked on TUTORIAL and were whisked away again by darkness and found yourself in the void.
Well, that unexpectedly took a while. But heads up, I'm going to be a bit busy with work so the next part is going to be slower to complete. Yet there are lots of interesting things going on here in this one to tie you all over, including a brand-new mystery for all of us to solve! Just goes to show that Help Wanted 2 just seems to have even more things for us to discover!

In this reimagining of the 1992 classic, private investigator Edward Carnby is hired to investigate the disappearance of Jeremy Hartwood, last seen in Derceto Manor. Accompanying him is his client, Emily Hartwood, who rides with Carnby to the manor, a former home to cultists and asylum patients. Soon after they step through Derceto's doors, they fall victim to similar strands of madness, courtesy of an eldritch being known as the Dark Man. To avoid dying Alone in the Dark, Carnby has to venture deep into the subconscious world and face down phantoms from his past and solve Jeremy's disappearance.
Feats from this thread come from Alone in the Dark (2024).
Physicals

• Can smash wooden gates or barricades with melee weapons
• Smashes barrels
• Wrestles bird-like enemies away from himself
• Wrestles with large, tick-like monsters, tossing them off of himself
• Wrestles monstrous, humanoid enemies off of himself
• Boots away, then wrestles with a large, tick-like monster
• Falls down a story onto his back

Skill

• Offscreen, he punched a gangster out and sent his goons running
• Stabs a man in the eye
• Uses a piece of tough cloth to zip-line
• Uses a length of rope to rappel down a chasm

Equipment

• Pistol
  • Gunshots instantly kill large, tick-like monsters
• Shotgun
• Tommy gun
• Flare gun
• During the game, Edward can pick up melee weapons and use them until they break. These include, but are not limited to:
  • Lead pipes
  • Hatchets
  • Oars
  • Shovels
  • Sledgehammer
• Can heal by taking a pull from his flask
• Flashlight pinned to his shirt
• Bolt cutters

Something in the woods
Something I don’t know what it is, but something is in the woods, something primal and old, something tired, something pure evil, Something very fucking big, something that predates all of this that nothing we made or can make will ever be able to stop. Do you know that feeling that you’re being watched? This thing is so big that it doesn’t give you that feeling. It has eyes everywhere, so many that you can’t tell whether you are looking at it or the woods, maybe it is the woods, and we’ve always lived with it, something older than the big bang or whatever came before it. Something older than our concept of God or God itself. When it moves the forest moves with it, it is the forest. One of those things that came long before humans or plants, names, rocks or sound. It can remain shapeless, which means it can remain deathless and it is not restricted to our space nor the blue rock that is the earth, something that attempting to rationalize or size up would reduce the hardest men to tears and screams of pure insanity and terror. It comes from a place in this hostile universe that is savage, hungry, and primal to its core, a place our god ran from when he created this. It’s always watched us, but we are not and never will be big enough for it to care. Few men have seen it and fewer men have understood it. None survive. To see it is to meet fate, something so terrible and large and beautiful and bizarre shatters the mind and soul. Something so big that death can’t escape it. Death simply takes us to a different place, and whatever piece he takes with him takes us to a place where IT IS. Maybe it isn’t evil, just primal. Older than concepts and our small insignificant differences that we so desperately attempt to use to get ahead. It doesn’t matter, nothing matters and only one thing is certain. There is something in the woods.
I wake up again in the cold sweat that I’ve become used to. It’s that same dream that always comes after she disappeared. I never used to dream. Kelsey said it’s because I had no imagination. What I wouldn’t give for her to say that to me just one more time, but that’s why I’m here isn’t it? The dream gets longer, more vivid the further I follow her. It must mean I’m getting close. I pull over at the motel where he said it would happen and stare into the woods across the street. I feel a strange pulling sensation the longer I stare, and I have to force myself to look away. I’m in the right place, I know it.
“Chuck. You’ve been here all day and all night for over a week. You need sleep.” Bob says as he sits up straight at his desk.
“I’ll sleep when I catch this fuck.” I say as I down yet another cup of coffee.
“Chief has been talking about putting us both on sabbatical after this case. He said he might not wait and just let Morris and Rogers take over.” He says, standing to meet me at the board.
“Those two dumbasses couldn’t find water in the ocean. We almost got…... get me 10th precinct on the line and call in the SWAT team, I know who it is.” I say putting my coat on and heading down to my car.
The triple murder case was closed. Turns out the owner of a local butcher shop had the idea that selling high end restaurants human meat would be a grand money-making scheme. What was left of his victims were found in a storage locker 5 miles from the shop. 3 officers retired after the case was closed. Bob and I were given a month-long sabbatical for our troubles. I decided that the joint savings account could take the hit and Kelsey and I should commence our delayed honeymoon in the Bahamas.
I opened the door of my apartment and expected to be greeted by Kelsey, the brochure in my hand ready to drop the happiest bombshell in the last 6 months. Instead, I was greeted by silence. At first, I thought rational husband thoughts, after all it was 10 AM on a Tuesday, and she was a full-time accountant. And then I see the little piece of paper that would alter the course of my life forever.
DON’T FOLLOW. I LOVE YOU. – Kelsey
I would spend the next few days in a drunken stupor, going through the divorcee grief process, waiting to be served from a different state or a post card with a new man on it, but nothing came. A week went by, and nothing came. I called, I texted, I emailed to no avail. I tried to reach her parents, her siblings, all to no avail. I would spend hours staring at the note trying to find something, anything that would lead me to her, and as if my pathetic state was so moving that it caught the attention of something beyond our realm, I was thrown a cosmic bone. A glint of light would expose the symbol drawn in invisible ink. This is where having an old flame in the FBI comes in handy and soon after calling in a few favors, I received the phone call.
“Yknow, it’s not every day that you get something from a secret organization, I’m still amazed that you even found it.” Syd muses.
“I’m a detective that’s kind of my thing.” I say, taking another drag of my cigarette as I stare out into the skyline.
“Well, I hate to be the bearer of bad news chucky, but these guys are good, I’ve found jack shit on the internet about it aside from a few scattered remnants here and there.”
“Do you have a general location? I get the feeling that this isn’t a symbol you find just anywhere.”
“A few scattered carvings on trees, a few tattoos. Give me two seconds…. Alright, I’ve narrowed it down. North Carolina ringing any bells?”
I almost drop my cigarette.
“She went home.” I say, feeling like an idiot for not thinking of it sooner.
“Look, I know what you’re thinking, but let’s try and think rational here, I don’t know if it’s a good idea that you just go stomping around her neck of the woods. People leave each other all the time…”
“SHE WOULDN’T LEAVE ME.” I almost scream into the phone.
Almost a minute of silence passes.
“I’ll give you a call if I find anything more. Don’t do anything stupid.” She hangs up before I can say another word.
As I walk to board the plane, I get a strange feeling that I’m being watched. I look around to see who’s making the hair on the back of my neck raise until I see him. He’s tall and wears a black jacket and jeans. A long beard covers his face, and his eyes are almost white with cataracts, but somehow, I know that he still sees me. He continues walking towards me and I feel my hand drift into my pocket and feel the cold metal of the pocketknife. I wait until he stands next to me and as he’s walking, I hear him say one word.
“Usurper.”
The word has burned itself into my mind and stays with me until I drift into sleep on the flight.
That’s when I had the first dream.
I stand in the clearing looking at the tree line of the woods. I can see the trees begin to move ever so slightly until it makes some sort of face. It blinks.
I wake with a start as the flight attendant nudges me back into consciousness.
“Sir, the plane has landed.” She says with a smile that is a little too wide. I notice that we are the only ones still on the plane and I begin to feel the hair on my arms rise. She turns to walk off and then turns around to look at me one last time.
“For her sake Usurper, don’t interfere.” She says and she steps into the terminal.
I drive to her hometown of Troy, trying to figure out what the hell was going on. Usurper? Interfere? What the fuck is going on here? The thoughts plague my mind until I reach her parents’ house. I see the smoke from miles away. At first, I think it’s just a garbage fire until I turn down the dirt road that leads to the house and can almost taste the acrid vapor. I continue down the winding path and stop at the smoldering remains of the foundation. There is not a single inch of the house that hasn’t been turned to ash or charred wood. No fire trucks. No cops. No ambulances. What the fuck is going on here.
I decide I need to try and get some face to face with the locals and so I head to the bar closest to her former home.
I enter the bar and pull up a chair. The Bartender walks up and slaps his hands on the counter.
“What can I get you?” he says cheerily. The bar is empty except for the two of us and I can tell he’s appreciative of the company.
“Whisky Sour.” I say, which warrants a strange look from him.
“You new around here?” He says with an analytical tone.
“How could you tell?” I say as I count the cash in my wallet.
“It ain’t every day I got folks asking for fancy drinks like that.”
“You got Jack?”
“Yeah.”
“You got Coke?”
“Yep.”
“What’s the next thing do you think I’m gonna ask?” I say, finger gunning him and trying my best to force a disarming smile.
“Single or Double?” He says returning a middle finger.
“Double.”
“Gotcha, want to keep the tab open?”
“Sure.”
He slides me the drink and then pulls up his own stool from behind the bar.
“So, what brings you to town?” he says, eyeballing me like I’m a new exhibit at the zoo.
“Looking for someone. Think you could help?”
“Town ain’t all that big Yankee. You a cop?” He says with a grin.
“How’d you know I was a cop?” I say, surprised at his analysis.
“Accent, Walk, Talk, you’re probably also carrying despite the fact that says no firearms on the premises. Plus, the fact that you’re looking for someone. So, what are you? Marshall? DEA? FBI?” he says, counting on his fingers as he picks me apart.
“So that makes me federal off the bat? Not just a new deputy?” I say, returning with my own sarcasm.
“I run a dive bar in bumfuck nowhere; I know every single cop in this county. Plus, nobody moves here by choice.” Swirling his finger in the air with a laugh.
I laugh with him as I realize that there isn’t a point in trying to hide it, and if anyone knew what was going on around here it was probably him.
“So, what are you doing here?” He says leaning in.
“I’m looking for someone.” I say leaning in and sliding a 100$ bill across the counter.
“Who?” he says, eyeing the bill.
“My wife.”
He throws his head back and laughs.
“Ah yes, one for details. Does this wife of yours have a name? Also keep the money, I ain’t a man who needs to be bribed for his help.” He says sliding the money back to me.
“Kelsey Smith.”
Almost as if on queue, the doors of the bar fly open, and 3 men walk in. They walk almost in lock step and carry easy smiles that deeply unsettle me. The same smile that the flight attendant had.
The bartender stiffens at the sight of them and becomes noticeably uncomfortable.
“Terry.” The leader says warmly, stepping forward to the bar.
“We’re about to close.” Terry says as he begins shutting the lights and jukebox off.
“We can help!” and with a wave of his hand, he disperses the other two to stand at the opposing sides of the bar, blocking our exits.
While the goons look passively on, the smiles still on their faces, the leader pulls up a seat right next to mine.
“My name is Jeremy.” he says, extending his hand in a polite but almost forceful manner.
“Pleasure” I say, sipping from my drink and leaving him hanging. He puts his hand on the counter and the smile on his face grows, almost as if he were baring his teeth.
“You’re new in town. What’s your name.” He says, angling his entire body towards me.
“Charles.”
“Well Charles. Allow me to cut to the chase, have you had the dreams yet?”
This sends a shiver up my spine, and I feel sweat break out across my forehead.
“I’ll take that as a yes. Now, I understand that you are stepping into an environment that you would consider…. Foreign” he says motioning his hands across the bar.
“But when two people call you the same name before you even get to a destination, one must ask himself. Is this the place I should be going?” He sounds like my old elementary school principal, the prick always knew how to talk down to me, keeping perfectly calm but managing to make my blood boil.
“I’m just looking for my wife. I will leave when I find out what happened to her.” I say, staring into my drink.
“There is something at work here that many people have put a lot of effort into, Kelsey included, and we will not have the usurper come and disrupt our efforts.” At the mention of her name I turn to look at him. His face is off. His eyes are wild and almost manic, and his lips are quivering ever so slightly.
“What do you want.” I growl and feel my hand drift to my waist.
“Leave. Never return. I’m sure you know the spiel.” He says. His tone has changed as well. If he wasn’t threatening me then he is now.
“And if I don’t?” I say, sparing a glance at Terry. His hands are under the bar now, most likely reaching for a piece he has underneath the counter.
“We will spare no detail.” Jeremy says, as the veins in his neck begin to bulge.
“Alright, you’ve sold me. I’ll leave.” I say as I stand, put the hundred back on the counter and stand from my seat.
“I’m so happy we decided to be reasonable.” Jeremy says, his face returning to its normal shape.
Without a further word, I get in my car and begin speeding down the road. It’s past 9PM and I’d bet my retirement on the fact that they’re going to follow me, and they sure as hell aren’t going to let me leave this town alive.
I drive for about 10 minutes down the dark and winding roads, long enough for me to realize that I haven’t seen anyone else on the road, which is strange in its own right. My thoughts are interrupted as a pair of headlights appear in my rear-view window and gunshots start ringing off into the night. One nails my taillight, another peppers my trunk. I speed up as my side mirror disappears with another crack. I pull out my own pistol and fire blindly through the rear windshield. One of the headlights on the truck goes out and a second later the truck veers off the side of the road, its course being intercepted by a tree. I look at my pistol in shock. And feel myself chuckle as I pull off to the side of the road. “Still got it.” I say to myself.
I reload and step out of my car and go to inspect the wreckage of my failed assassins. I’m not shocked to find that it’s Jeremy and his 2 goons from the bar. One of them was sent through the front window and face first into the tree, his body resembling something of a meat accordion. The other is slumped in the front seat, a noticeable indention in his skull after he hit the steering wheel and a penny sized hole in his forehead. I look around the truck to see the back door open and a trail of blood leading into the forest. I see Jeremy sitting against a tree. His breathing is labored, his legs are mangled, and he clutches his shoulder as he tries to plug the new hole, I gave him a few minutes earlier. I keep my gun on him as I approach.
“What happened man? I thought we were gonna be reasonable.” I say as I continue walking towards him.
He looks up at me. His smile is long gone, and only rage stains his face.
“Cmon then, get it over with.” He spits at me.
“I’m in no rush Jeremy, I need to ask you some questions.”
“I’m not telling you shit, Usurper.” In response to his name calling, I kick one of his legs which causes him to yelp like a beaten dog.
“Let’s start with that. What’s this Usurper thing about?” I say, dragging a log for me to sit on.
“You are the arch enemy. You will destroy everything my people have built. You and yours will be the ones to usher the destruction of all.” Despite his truly terrible condition, I’m impressed at his vigor and energy.
“I’ve started having dreams Jeremy. Something tells me you know why.”
He laughs at this, a harsh wheezing that sounds like the irony is worse than his pain.
“You moron. You’re apart of this, all of it.” he says, as he leans his head back on to the tree and stares into the sky.
“I’m a part of what. You keep saying these things that don’t make any sense. The only reason I’m here is for Kelsey, you know who she is, you know where she is. Tell me, and I’ll call an ambulance.” I say as I snap my fingers to make sure this smug bastard is staying awake.
“All will be revealed in due time.” He says it, reciting it like a mantra.
“Alright then, I tried the nice way.” I say smacking his hand away and sticking my thumb into the bullet hole in his shoulder.
He winces.
“Where.”
I dig. He moans.
“The Fuck.”
I dig deeper. He cries out.
“Is she.”
I push to the bone.
“STOP STOP. I’ll TALK.” He howls.
I pull my thumb out and rub it on his shirt.
“Sunset. Roadway inn. Cross the street and walk until you hear the songs.” He says as he coughs and tries to compose himself.
“That wasn’t so hard, was it?” I say.
“May it tear you limb from limb usurper.” He says, and then pulling a knife from his waist belt and draws it across his throat.
I stand in shock as he slumps over and gurgles out his last few breaths.
As I stand in the motel room, I do a last-minute check. I take my old hunting rifle and make sure the scope is still working. I tap all of my equipment and jump up and down to make sure nothing rattles. A gnawing feeling in the back of my mind tells me that I came unprepared, but it’s too late to back out. I find my resolve and step outside. I’m in the right place. I stand in the spot where I stand in the dream. It’s almost as if I can see the forest stare back at me, and without further thought I walk across the street and make my way into the trees. I don’t walk far when I can start hearing the songs. A bizarre chant carried on the wind, in a language that I’ve never heard. I can then see the firelights in the distance as the songs grow louder. I see a hill and climb it, and then crawl until I reach the top. What I see draws the breath from my body.
A massive pit. A black hole in the middle of the forest. Standing around it is a ring of torches and behind it stand over 100 people. They’re naked and are covered head to toe in bizarre tattoos, with the same joyous smiles that Jeremy and his men had plastered across their faces. At the front of the pit stands an altar and that’s when I see her. Standing at the edge of the pit is the love of my life, naked, tattooed and smiling. Beside her stands a man, who raises his hands and silences the song.
“It seems that everyone has finally arrived.” He calls out. Which ignites a cheer throughout the crowd. Shit. Theres no way he knows I’m here.
“YOU’RE TIME HAS COME. RISE. CLAIM THE STARS.” The man screams and falls to his knees.
I then see movement in the pit, and giant tendrils rise and begin to plant themselves on the sides of the hole. The man rises and stands behind Kelsey, who he then begins to push towards the hole. She resists and begins to push back. I decide that I’ve seen enough and line the scope of the rifle with the center of his chest. Breathe out. And squeeze the trigger. I feel the push as the shot vibrates throughout my body and a hole appears in the man’s chest. Silence falls and then screams ring out. “USURPER”
Before I understand what’s happening, they’re on top of me and dragging me towards the pit. They beat me with their fists and clubs, tearing my clothes off and painting the tattoos on my body. I try to fight but they hold me down and drag me to the altar. I am brought to my knees before the altar and look at Kelsey. She is joined by an old woman who raises her hand to bring the crowd to silence.
“THE FALSE VESSAL HAS BEEN DISPOSED. THE USURPER HAS COME TO LEAD US TO THE STARS.”
I’m brought to my feet and led to the edge of the pit. I feel a hand grab mine. I look to see Kelsey holding on to me. She pulls me into an embrace, pulls away, and leans into my ear.
“Trust me.” She says, and then shoves me into the abyss.
I’m falling. I fall for what seems like hours and seconds. I finally land. I begin to sink, and I realize I haven’t landed on the ground but something warm. Something alive. I then feel the tendrils wrap around me and pull me in. I sink and as I sink, I begin to see. A billion-year plot, eons of deliberation, plans, executions, all of history, every hour, every minute, every second all converging to center on this very moment. The big bang, the creation of all life, and everything before it. I begin to feel an urge, the urge to claim, the urge to conquer, the urge to take. I rise. I continue to rise until I rise out of the pit and into the sky to go and claim the stars.

To hear me read this story click here
-Sixteen Months Ago, 2099-
“Step forward Commander.” Admiral Price reached out to now Captain Gardner, pinning his rank pin to his collar. He saluted and she returned his salute. Normally these things were far less ceremonial, and almost never broadcast on the web, but Captain Gardner was now the face of the STRAYS Project, so ceremony was warranted. They shook hands, smiled for a photo op, then walked out of the camera view. Admiral Price unbuttoned her top shirt button, loosened her tie and took off her hat. “I hate wearing the dress unis. So old school military.”
Captain Gardner smiled, leaving his formal look in place. “Amanda, you are definitely not old school military.” She patted his shoulder as they entered the command center. Across the room in a simulator Commander Klein was directing a newly assembled crew through a simulation. A red light began flashing and an alarm sounded. A flurry of activity as the simulator shook and swayed, then, the light and alarm went off, and the simulator stabilized. Gardner and Price took notice. The pilot was a new addition to the team, Lieutenant Isabella Jeffries. She took a deep steadying breath and looked up, seeing Gardner and Price for the first time, before grinning.
“That was fun!”
Klein looked serious for a moment then smiled. “Not dying in space is fun.” He stepped out of the simulator and greeted Gardner, saluting the Admiral, who waved him off.
“Not necessary in here James.”
Klein turned to Gardner, saluting. “How about you Captain? You finally outrank me.” Gardner returned his salute. Klein laughed, “I feel like you’ve already been ordering me around for months anyway.” He turned to Admiral Price. “As have you, although marrying my uncle does give you a little authority, even without the stars.”
Admiral Price swatted at him. “Careful Commander. You might get busted down to pilot again!”
Gardner pointed to Jeffries, “She seems good, which scenario was that?”
Klein replied, “Rogue asteroid.”
Price looked at Jeffries then back to the Captain, “Maybe you have your pilot?” Gardner nodded as the crew received briefings from the scientists monitoring the simulation.
A cadet entered the room and approached Gardner, saluting. “Captain, I have a message for you. I normally would have filed it away, especially today--” His eyes looked to the Captain’s new rank insignias, ‘--But he said it was regarding your family? Something from the past?”
Gardner took the note and stuffed it in his pocket as the cadet left. He turned back to Klein, “Smart, good pilot, dodged the asteroid, is she the one Commander?” Klein nodded, Gardner continued. “Good, that was taking too long. We launch in a few months, I want a command crew in place.” Gardner turned to the Admiral, “Amanda, I’m going home. Too much ceremony makes me hungry.” He pulled out the note as he left the room.
Gardner shifted in his desk chair. He picked at the remaining food on his plate, trying to decide if he wanted to call the person on the note sitting in front of him. Finally he sat up straight, pushed his empty plate to the side, and fired up his communication center. He entered the email address and hit send. On the computer screen in front of him he looked at the small image of himself as the ‘waiting’ animation looped. Finally the call connected and a young man appeared onscreen.
The young man spoke. “Captain Gardner, thank you for responding.”
Gardner was polite but quick. “Yes, of course, what can I do for you Mister…” Gardner looked at the note, “Mr. Allen?”
“Jeremy Allen. Yes sir. I saw you on TV and it clicked.” Gardner waited impatiently, his association with the STRAYS program made him a celebrity. It was the most hopeful some people had been in years. Jeremy continued, “My Grandfather left Earth before I was born. Four years ago my mother died of cancer.”
Gardner frowned, sadly, a pretty common family tree these days. "I’m sorry Mr. Allen.”
Jeremy smiled, and held up a sheet of paper with handwriting. “My Grandfather was a list maker. Apparently he was borderline obsessed with lists and documenting everything.” He smiled a moment, “My mother passed this on to me. Grandpa made this list of people who were leaving Earth, but hadn’t been able to contact any family. He got it to my mother before he left.” Gardner sat up. Maybe Jeremy had something. Jeremy read from the list. “Was your mother’s name Sophie?” Gardner nodded. “And your mother’s parents were Larry and Kit?”
“Katherine… yes, Kit” Gardner was fully involved now. He waited.
Jeremy continued. “From Minnesota?” Gardner nodded as Jeremy read, “Larry and Kit Jennings, daughter Sophie Gardner, grandson Alex Gardner. They were scheduled to leave on a ship in March of 2065.” Jeremy made a note on his paper. He looked up again at Gardner. “Captain, this has been my life for the past four years. I’m sorry that is all the information I have. I have 26 more to go. I plan to find them all.”
Gardner was in minor shock at the information. He sputtered as he tried to form a thought. “Mr. Allen, can you send me a copy of your list?” Jeremy nodded, Gardner continued. “If it’s all right, I’d like to pass this on to my colleague, Admiral Price. She will contact you and find a way to help. This information may be useful in our program.”
Jeremy sat up, as a weight lifted from his shoulders. In this society people could determine what they spent their time on, although most found a way to work at something they enjoyed. Jeremy had been going through a meticulously collected handwritten list, over 30 years old. It was a nearly impossible task for one man, especially with the lack of historical records, but for the Space Program it could be done easily. Jeremy smiled a tired smile, “Captain, that would be amazing.” His eyes ringed with tears, “I would be so happy to finish this list. It's my family’s small legacy.”
Gardner examined the list as it printed out in from of him. Around 60 lines, with names and years. Many checked, but the remaining 26 Jeremy mentioned still waiting. “Jeremy, this is amazing. You have no idea what this is worth. Don’t be surprised if people are moved by your story.” Jeremy sat up straighter and wiped his eyes. Gardner talked as he read, “I will keep all these people in mind while we’re out there, maybe we’ll find them all and reunite some families.”
-Present Day, 2100-
Captain Gardner smiled as he approached the Captain of the Starlight. It was the seventh ship they had found, small, only 24 passengers, and barely enough fuel and supplies to succeed. “Captain, do you have a passenger manifest?”
The Starlight Captain pointed at a wall near the cockpit where a clipboard hung. “On the clipboard, such as it was. It’s just names and pod numbers.”
Gardner smiled and thanked him as he walked over. He pulled down the clipboard and scrolled through, he stopped, smiled, and replaced the clipboard. Turning back to the storage area he scanned for Chen, spotting her near a bank of pods. “Lieutenant!” He walked over to her. “Everything good?” She nodded. He continued, “I’m looking for pods 17 and 19?”
Chen looked at him curiously. “We haven’t gotten to them yet. These are homemade sleeper units, and it’s a bit tricky reviving them. 17 and 19, probably in about 90 minutes.”
Gardner smiled. “Great, call me when you get to them!” With that he nearly skipped away. Chen watched him stop for a quick word with Klein, who seemed just as excited.
Chen spoke before Klein could ask for a progress report. “Commander, what’s all that about?”
Klein answered excitedly. “He found some people on his list.”
“His list?”
Klein hesitated, “Oh, he didn’t tell you? Well, I guess I can. Right before we launched a guy named Jeremy Allen sent the Captain a list. It had the names of people who had left Earth without being able to contact their families, to let them know they’d made it onto a ship. As they investigated, the list grew to over a hundred names between the first list and another that turned up right after.”
Chen recalled something, “That’s why he checks the manifest of every ship we find.”
Klein nodded, “Yep, he’s checking to see if he can cross any names off. This is the first.”
Chen furrowed her brow, “But I watched him look at the last one, he didn’t have a list with him, he just looked it over and shook his head.”
Klein smiled, “He memorized the names, the people who had shipped off planet, their families, any other details. They’re in his head.”
Chen whispered, “Amazing.” Klein turned but Chen stopped him. “Commander, we’ll need radiation scrubbers and treatment for the passengers. This ship is heavily irradiated. Our inoculations should protect us, but I’ll need everyone to get tested when we leave.”
Klein answered, “Are we taking any supplies?
Chen shook her head. “Personal items only, and limited at that.”
“Which pods?”
“Sir?”
“Which pods did the Captain ask about?”
“Oh, right, 17 and 19. Probably in a bit over an hour”
Klein walked over to pods 17 and 19 to see who the Captain’s first names were off the list.
As people come out of hibernation a few things always happen. First is a brain fog, confusion, then the coughing starts. Once that shakes off they blink, realizing their vision is blurred. A few moments later and they’re ready to stand, although it’s not easy at first, much like a baby giraffe, off balance, unable to control your knees. Fortunately if the pods weren’t equipped with an automatic shot, the medical team can provide the adrenalin. It’s not just adrenalin, there are a variety of medications and they work very well, but it still takes around 10-15 minutes before a person really knows what is happening.
As Steve Brennan came around his first look was for his wife Melissa, who was just a few moments behind him in recovery. He made his way to her carefully and they embraced. Both for love and balance. Captain Gardner approached them. “Hello, I am Captain Alex Gardner. You’ve just come out of hibernation. The year is 2100 and we are from Earth. You will certainly have many questions, but please be patient, we want to make sure you’re in good shape, then we can explain what is happening.”
A doctor came up to them, and gave them a quick look over. Gardner spoke, “You are Steve and Melissa Brennan?” They both nodded, Steve still coughing a little. “Do you recall meeting a man who was keeping a list of people who wanted to contact their families before they left?”
Melissa looked thoughtful. She turned to her husband, “We did, what was his name, Alan or something?”
Steve cleared his throat, “Dan Allen.” He paused, “Captain, we certainly haven’t made it to Proxima 2. Not this quickly.”
Gardner nodded, “That is correct, and I promise we’ll explain soon. Right now we’re getting everyone up and awake. We are trying to move quickly because this ship is heavily irradiated. But don’t worry, we have the medications now to clean that up.”
Steve and Melissa nodded OK, as people moved around them, quickly, but not rushing. Captain Gardner spoke again. “I am sorry to say I was only able to find one person on your list, your nephew Carl. But, he and his wife Deanna are looking forward to seeing you. If you’ll come with me, I can take you to the medical bay, and answer a few questions. There’s a lot to tell.”
Back in his quarters, Captain Gardner opened a communication window to send a message to Earth. He spoke into the transcriber. “From Captain Alex Gardner, UEF Shepherd. “To Carl and Deanna Brennan. “Dear Carl, I am happy to say I have located your Aunt and Uncle. They will be sending a message shortly, once they have been checked out by our medical team. If you’d like to send a message please go ahead. Admiral Price will be in contact as well to confirm.” Gardner checked the message and sent it. He sat back, looking up at the list, hanging on his wall.

AS Roma 0 - 2 Bayer Leverkusen

Leverkusen scorers: Florian Wirtz (28'), Robert Andrich (73')
Venue: Stadio Olimpico, Rome, Italy
Referee: François Letexier (France)
AS Roma:

Starting XI	Notes	Subs	Notes
Mile Svilar		Rui Patrício
Rick Karsdorp	62'	Pietro Boer
Gianluca Mancini		Diego Llorente
Chris Smalling		Evan Ndicka
Leonardo Spinazzola	74'	Angeliño	62'
Bryan Cristante	78'	Renato Sanches
Leandro Paredes	79'	Houssem Aouar
Lorenzo Pellegrini	30'	Nicola Zalewski
Paulo Dybala	90+1'	Edoardo Bove
Romelu Lukaku	79'	Tommaso Baldanzi	79'
Stephan El Shaarawy		Sardar Azmoun	79'
		Tammy Abraham	90+1'

Manager: Daniele De Rossi (Italy)
Bayer Leverkusen:

Starting XI	Notes	Subs	Notes
Matěj Kovář		Niklas Lomb
Josip Stanišić		Lukáš Hrádecký
Jonathan Tah	16'	Arthur
Edmond Tapsoba		Odilon Kossounou	90+3'
Jeremie Frimpong	88'	Nathan Tella	77'
Robert Andrich	73' 76'	Gustavo Puerta
Granit Xhaka	74'	Exequiel Palacios	88'
Piero Hincapié		Borja Iglesias
Florian Wirtz	28' 77'	Adam Hložek
Álex Grimaldo	90+3'	Victor Boniface
Amine Adli	77'	Jonas Hofmann	77'
		Patrik Schick

Manager: Xabi Alonso (Spain)
MATCH EVENTS
1': We're off!
5': Xhaka fires from distance, doesn't threaten the goal.
11': SAVE! A Roma shot from the edge of the box, Kovář stops it comfortably.
16': Jonathan Tah carded for tugging Lukaku back by the shirt
21': Lukaku leaps as high as he can and hits the header into the crossbar!!
23': Frimpong with a chance! But he tries to chip the keeper off his line and hits it into the side netting.
28': GOAL LEVERKUSEN!! It's a bad backpass by Karsdorp right in front of goal! Picked up easily by Grimaldo who feeds it to Florian Wirtz who hits it quickly past the keeper!
30': Lorenzo Pellegrini caution for lunging into Adli
34': Frimpong gets to a cross and flashes it wide of the post.
41': SAVE! Andrich fires from distance and Svilar punches it away.
42': Pellegrini fires from about 25 yards and misses the far post.
HT AS Roma 0-1 Bayer Leverkusen Bayer's dream season continues??
46': We're back!
51': Chance for Leverkusen on the corner kick, takes a tricky bounce for Hincapié who can only head it wide.
56': Huge chance for Roma, Cristante is unmarked right in front of goal, but he glances it wide.
62': Roma substitution: Angeliño on for Rick Karsdorp
73': GOAL LEVERKUSEN!! Robert Andrich scores from outside the box! Keeper left completely flat-footed!
74': A minor scrap breaks out after the goal, yellow cards given to both Granit Xhaka and Leonardo Spinazzola
76': Robert Andrich runs into the back of someone and hits them in the back of the head
77': Leverkusen double sub: Nathan Tella and Jonas Hofmann on for Amine Adli and Florian Wirtz
78': Bryan Cristante knocks Tella over from behind
79': Roma double sub: Sardar Azmoun and Tommaso Baldanzi on for Leandro Paredes and Romelu Lukaku
84': SAVE! Azmoun denied from close range! Or it might have been a challenge by Hincapié that sent the ball to his keeper.
88': Leverkusen substitution: Exequiel Palacios on for Jeremie Frimpong
90+1': Roma substitution: Tammy Abraham on for Paulo Dybala
90+3': Leverkusen substitution: Odison Kossounou on for Álex Grimaldo
90+4': Abraham heads it over the unmarked goal from close range!
FT AS Roma 0-2 Bayer Leverkusen They just can't be beaten!

AS Roma 0 - 2 Bayer Leverkusen

Leverkusen scorers: Florian Wirtz (28'), Robert Andrich (73')
Venue: Stadio Olimpico, Rome, Italy
Referee: François Letexier (France)
AS Roma:

Starting XI	Notes	Subs	Notes
Mile Svilar		Rui Patrício
Rick Karsdorp	62'	Pietro Boer
Gianluca Mancini		Diego Llorente
Chris Smalling		Evan Ndicka
Leonardo Spinazzola	74'	Angeliño	62'
Bryan Cristante	78'	Renato Sanches
Leandro Paredes	79'	Houssem Aouar
Lorenzo Pellegrini	30'	Nicola Zalewski
Paulo Dybala	90+1'	Edoardo Bove
Romelu Lukaku	79'	Tommaso Baldanzi	79'
Stephan El Shaarawy		Sardar Azmoun	79'
		Tammy Abraham	90+1'

Manager: Daniele De Rossi (Italy)
Bayer Leverkusen:

Starting XI	Notes	Subs	Notes
Matěj Kovář		Niklas Lomb
Josip Stanišić		Lukáš Hrádecký
Jonathan Tah	16'	Arthur
Edmond Tapsoba		Odilon Kossounou	90+3'
Jeremie Frimpong	88'	Nathan Tella	77'
Robert Andrich	73' 76'	Gustavo Puerta
Granit Xhaka	74'	Exequiel Palacios	88'
Piero Hincapié		Borja Iglesias
Florian Wirtz	28' 77'	Adam Hložek
Álex Grimaldo	90+3'	Victor Boniface
Amine Adli	77'	Jonas Hofmann	77'
		Patrik Schick

Manager: Xabi Alonso (Spain)
MATCH EVENTS
1': We're off!
5': Xhaka fires from distance, doesn't threaten the goal.
11': SAVE! A Roma shot from the edge of the box, Kovář stops it comfortably.
16': Jonathan Tah carded for tugging Lukaku back by the shirt
21': Lukaku leaps as high as he can and hits the header into the crossbar!!
23': Frimpong with a chance! But he tries to chip the keeper off his line and hits it into the side netting.
28': GOAL LEVERKUSEN!! It's a bad backpass by Karsdorp right in front of goal! Picked up easily by Grimaldo who feeds it to Florian Wirtz who hits it quickly past the keeper!
30': Lorenzo Pellegrini caution for lunging into Adli
34': Frimpong gets to a cross and flashes it wide of the post.
41': SAVE! Andrich fires from distance and Svilar punches it away.
42': Pellegrini fires from about 25 yards and misses the far post.
HT AS Roma 0-1 Bayer Leverkusen Bayer's dream season continues??
46': We're back!
51': Chance for Leverkusen on the corner kick, takes a tricky bounce for Hincapié who can only head it wide.
56': Huge chance for Roma, Cristante is unmarked right in front of goal, but he glances it wide.
62': Roma substitution: Angeliño on for Rick Karsdorp
73': GOAL LEVERKUSEN!! Robert Andrich scores from outside the box! Keeper left completely flat-footed!
74': A minor scrap breaks out after the goal, yellow cards given to both Granit Xhaka and Leonardo Spinazzola
76': Robert Andrich runs into the back of someone and hits them in the back of the head
77': Leverkusen double sub: Nathan Tella and Jonas Hofmann on for Amine Adli and Florian Wirtz
78': Bryan Cristante knocks Tella over from behind
79': Roma double sub: Sardar Azmoun and Tommaso Baldanzi on for Leandro Paredes and Romelu Lukaku
84': SAVE! Azmoun denied from close range! Or it might have been a challenge by Hincapié that sent the ball to his keeper.
88': Leverkusen substitution: Exequiel Palacios on for Jeremie Frimpong
90+1': Roma substitution: Tammy Abraham on for Paulo Dybala
90+3': Leverkusen substitution: Odison Kossounou on for Álex Grimaldo
90+4': Abraham heads it over the unmarked goal from close range!
FT AS Roma 0-2 Bayer Leverkusen They just can't be beaten!

Thank you to everyone who submitted names! If you want to just get to it, here is the voting form: https://forms.gle/NVvnGRrrwyXBAND7A
And the nominees are…
Best Fake Accent
Sutton Foster - Sweeney Todd
Daniel Radcliffe - Merrily We Roll Along
Aaron Tveit - Sweeney Todd
Kara Young - Purlie Victorious
Jeremy Jordan - The Great Gatsby
Most Athletic Performance
All The Acrobats - Water For Elephants
Justin Guarini - Once Upon A One More Time
Daniel Radcliffe - Merrily We Roll Along
Sutton Foster - Once Upon A Mattress
Everyone - Illinoise
Best Ensemble
The Outsiders
Here Lies Love
Merrily We Roll Along
Once Upon A One More Time
Hell’s Kitchen
Back to the Future
Water For Elephants
Ensemble Member Who Really Lives by the Motto that there are “No Small Parts”
Amber Ardolino - Back to the Future
Carson Stewart - The Notebook
Max Rackenberg, Rocco Van Auken, Brady Wagner aka all the Frankie Jr.’s - Merrily We Roll Along
Jonathan Christopher - Sweeney Todd
Best Playbill Biography
Hillary Clinton - Suffs
James Monroe Inglehart - Spamalot
Paul Alexander Nolan - Water For Elephants
Nik Walker - Spamalot
Taran Killam - Spamalot
Best Playbill Design
Merrily We Roll Along
Cabaret
Water For Elephants
Here Lies Love
The Notebook
Best Use of Pop Culture References to Connect With the Youth: Combined with the Best/Worst/Corniest Jokes Category, because they both had very similar nominees.
All the Lesbian Jokes - Lempicka
“I’m Done With the Spanish Flu” - The Great Gatsby
The George Santos Reference - Spamalot
The Ozempic Jokes - Spamalot
Lots of Things - The Mean Girls Movie
Best Merch
The Notebook, Specifically the Tissue Boxes
Once Upon A One More Time
Gutenberg!
Suffs
Merrily We Roll Along
Best New or New-Ish Performer
Liam Pearce - How to Dance in Ohio
Ali Louis Bourzgui - The Who’s Tommy
Nichelle Lewis - The Wiz
Hannah Cruz - Suffs
Brody Grant - The Outsiders
Most Highly Critically Acclaimed Play that Only 17 People Actually Paid To See
Jaja’s African Hair Braiding
Uncle Vanya
Days of Wine and Roses
Prayer For the French Republic
Lempicka, starring Mariand Torres
Performer Who Did Not Get To Show Off Enough In Their Role: thank you to u/Comprehensive-Fun47 for suggesting this category and its nominees!
Sierra Boggess - Harmony
Julie Benko - Harmony
Beth Leavel - Lempicka
Steve Carrell - Uncle Vanya
Christina Sajous - The Who’s Tommy
Worst Show to go Into Blind
Days of Wine and Roses
Lempicka
Merrily We Roll Along
The Who’s Tommy
Here Lies Love
Best Official Social Media of a Production: There are so many posts to choose from to best represent each of these shows marketing moves; I just went ahead and chose my favorite post from each nominated show.
Gutenberg!
Lempicka
The Great Gatsby
The Outsiders
How To Dance In Ohio
Best Theatre-Related Social Media
Bryan The Business Analyst
MickeyJoTheatre
Kate Reinking
BroadwaySHO
The Theatr App
Most TikTok Worthy Song
Woman Is - Lempicka
Roaring On - The Great Gatsby
Kiss Me - The Notebook
Best Stage Door Experience
Merrily We Roll Along
Harmony
Sweeney Todd
The Great Gatsby
Lempicka
Worst Stage Door Experience
Gutenberg!
Sweeney Todd
Days of Wine and Roses
The Great Gatsby
Merrily We Roll Along
Role Most Likely To Be Stolen By James Chosen in a Movie: And yes, these all were suggested more than once.
Tamara de Lempicka - Lempicka
Anyone - Spamalot
Bud or Doug - Gutenberg
Jay Gatsby - The Great Gatsby
The Cowardly Lion - The Wiz
Single Best Costume
Aaron Tveit’s Bloody Shirt that Sold For $6k - Sweeney Todd
This Cinderella Dress - Once Upon A One More Time
This Glinda Dress - The Wiz
Emcee’s Dress During “Money” - Cabaret
Rafaela’s Jacket - Lempicka
Single Best Prop
The DeLorean - Back to the Future
The Notebook - The Notebook
Rosie the Elephant - Water For Elephants
The Typewriter - Merrily We Roll Along
The Hats - Gutenberg!
Craziest News Story
Lauren Boebert at Beetlejuice
My Son’s A Queer Postponement/Cancellation
Ethan Slater and Ariana Grande
New Sweeney Todd Casting
Two Great Gatsby Musicals
Best Post on Broadway
Eva Noblezada Last Show Updates! - u/elaerna
Tired of the "what show should I see" posts? Help me build a flow chart we can pin! - u/FlowersBloomUntil
Sweeny Todd is just a guy????????? - u/badwyrm
MEGATHREAD of Spamalot (2023-24) Knights Who Say "Ni!" bits (Alex Brightman, et al.) - u/Thatchos
Gutenberg Guest Roster - u/Apprehensive-Sir1988
Best Producer on Gutenberg!
Lin-Manuel Miranda
Weird Al
Audra McDonald
Idina Menzel
Steve Martin and Martin Short
Worst Snack Allowed in the Theater
Anything with Crinkly Wrapping
Chips
Spaghetti Sauce
Popcorn
Alcohol
Worst Things To Do As An Audience Member
Be On Phones
Talking
Singing Along
Filming
Shame Performers For Not Stage-Dooring
Worst Behaved Audience
Sweeney Todd
Moulin Rouge
An Enemy of the People
Aladdin
Student Matinees in General
Best Bathroom Attendant
Stephen Sondheim Theatre (& Juliet)
Al Hirschfeld Theatre (Moulin Rouge)
August Wilson Theatre (Funny Girl, Cabaret)
Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre (Parade, The Outsiders)
Broadhurst Theatre (A Beautiful Noise)
Single Best Song to Come Out of This Season
Great American Bitch - Suffs
Great Expectations - The Outsiders
Evanesce - Days of Wine and Roses
Woman Is - Lempicka
Here Lies Love - Here Lies Love
Best Play That Did Not Premiere On Broadway
Oh, Mary!
Primary Trust
Jonah
Death, Let Me Do My Show
All The Devils Are Here
Best Musical That Did Not Premiere On Broadway
Dead Outlaw
Operation Mincemeat
Here We Are
Teeth
The Connector
Most Anticipated Show of Next Season
Sunset Boulevard
Romeo + Juliet
Boop!
Gatsby
Our Town
Old Friends
…
That’s all of them! Please let me know if there are any better links I can put in, or if any of the links don’t work.
I know there are some statistics nerds on this subreddit, so if anyone can come up with some wacky statistics related to these nominees, that would be real cool! Or if anyone wants to design the program for this year’s Bad Tony’s, that would also be really cool! Alright, anyway, I hope you all enjoy!

Drinking five liters of Fizzy Faz is a bad idea. Think of your kidneys and liver!
Previous part: 5.
Nothing to say really, let's just keep on keeping on!
For those new to this series or who have lost which part or place they're on, check out The Jonsie Burrows: Help Wanted 2: Tables of contents to find where you want to go! If you haven't seen any of my stuff before then...
Hello, this is something you might have missed in Help Wanted 2.
Previously Post Interesting things:

1. Our main character, HW Jeremy, Cassie's dad, is already wearing the Security Mask before we even start the game. This means Glitchtrap has access to his mind and body. As for what that entails...
2. Help Wanted 2's AMask-on version of the FNAF6 Pizzaria might be based on Micheal's canonical look for it near the end of Pizzaria Simulator.
3. After completing each minigame, a party hat, plate, and cup will appear on the table next to you. Whose party are we attending as a guest?
4. The protagonist of Help Wanted 2 is HW Jeremy, discovered through the color blue items which are prominent in the game and used for his name and shirt in Ruin. Jeremy was a former employee of Circus Baby's Entertainment and Rental and may have been present during the events of Sister Location.
5. In the First Aid minigame of Help Wanted 2, the "GET WELL SOON!" drawings depict Baby's life as seen through Vanny's eyes, hinting towards the game's secret ending. These drawings also reveal that Baby's data card from Sister Location was inside Helpy in Pizzeria Simulator and survived the fire. As a result, her programming was eventually absorbed into the Pizzaplex's Network, leading to her appearance in Help Wanted 2.
6. Glitchtrap may have collected the souls and memories of the original dead kids into the Pizzaplex's Network and in this game, Jeremy is going into Glitchtrap's memories.
7. Help Wanted 2's Fizz Faz minigame's location is the same but different location in Security Breach. They both have identical objects placed in the exact place as each other, giving evidence to the fact that Jeremy is physically moving to certain locations in the Pizzaplex when clicking on the minigames.

Now back to our unregularly scheduled series!
​
Once in the restaurant again, Helpy as always when you completed a minigame, informed you that a new task was available to you. Checking the Staff Only folder revealed that it was the next night of Fizzy Faz, which you clicked on to open its pop-up window.
​
You know I've been meaning to get into the Helpi of this game. That's right not even a second paragraph into the next part and we're already deep diving into another subject!
So lets start with the interesting thing about Helpi in Help Wanted 2, is he actually Glitchtrap? Yes, no, and maybe. Let's think it through.
Unlike his Ruin variant, Help Wanted 2's Helpi only appears in one place, the projector screen in the hub world. Also unlike Ruin's this Helpi has a completely different design.
Although those two points about this Helpi don't give us much to work on to figure out why he the way he is in this game at first glance. It actually gives us a ton of information!
For one, his design and singular placement in the game tell us that this Helpi is not a part of the V.A.N.N.I. network like Ruin Helpi was. How can I know this? Simple. The V.A.N.N.I. network does not cover the FNAF 6 pizzeria.
You see something that I didn't cover in my Ruin deep dive is its Brazil ending. In that ending, Cassie puts on the Security Mask and integrates into the network one last time as she hides from the Mimic behind a Fredbear's cutout. But how could this be when Helpi explicitly tells us that the V.A.N.N.I. network ends at the door to the underground?
Something that I learned when I started my quest to prove stuff, especially when it comes to the endings of these games, is that each of the alternate endings we're given, no matter if they're the canon ending or not, provides us with valuable information about the ongoings of the game. Including stuff that's happening in the background sort of speak.
Take my "One ending leads to Ruin" post for example. Some of Security Breach's endings give us a pretty clear picture of what Vanny was doing when Gregory and Freddy went underground for the Burn It All Down ending.
The Alley ending for instance has Vanny tracking down Gregory into its namesake. But how Vanny knows that Gregory has left the building so quickly and managed to follow him right after he leaves is only hinted at in the To the Rooftop ending. During that ending we're are shown that Vanny is on the rooftop before Gregory gets there, much to his shock.
You see when deciding to escape the Pizzaplex rather than confront Vanny, Gregory falls right into one of her traps. Vanny knows that Gregory is going to try and escape the building once it hits 6:00 a.m. because she made almost every exit to the Pizzaplex unavailable and inaccessible to him until that time.
The front entrance, of course, opens at 6:00 a.m., and The loading dock requires at least a level seven clearance, which would take literally hours for Gregory to get. This leaves only one possible exit for him to leave through and the one place she can ambush him and catch him by surprise, the Pizzaplex's rooftop.
So when 6:00 a.m. hits and she still doesn't have him, Vanny waits on the roof as it provides her with a vantage point to catch him or spot which way he leaves the Pizzaplex. Unfortunately for her, but not too unfortunate considering all the possible endings, Gregory had decided to confront not her, but the true source of evil and attempt to Burn it All Down.
Though funnily enough, The Getaway ending, in which Greg and Fred steal a van, was the best possible escape plan, because the van provides Gregory the advantage of speed to outrun Vanny when she spots him from the rooftop.
All of this is information that could only be gained by looking at what the other endings tell us about what could possibly happen if different choices are made.
So what does the Brazil ending of Ruin inform us?
It can tell us that the Vanny Mask can connect to the Pizzaplex's network outside of the V.A.N.N.I network. If you are confused by my wording, let me explain as I haven't talked about it in a while. But the Pizzaplex has a main network and subnetworks. The main network is basically the foundation for every other network in the Pizzaplex, like the security system, the wet floor bots, and Glamrock Bonnie network, the various attractions' network, and the V.A.N.N.I network.
So the V.A.N.N.I network is not actually required for the Security Mask to be used, just the main network of the Pizzaplex, and as the hidden cameras of Ruin show us, at least one subnetwork connects all the down to where the Mimic was sealed. Way past where Jeremy is in the FNAF6 pizzeria.
But you don't really need the Brazil ending to find this out as the sequence leading up to it helps tease that out. No, what the Brazil ending tells us, or rather shows us and relates to Help Wanted 2, is that Helpi can appear outside of the V.A.N.N.I network.
How can I know this is Helpi? If you're referring to this Helpi, our little helper from the Security Mask, then no, I'm not talking about that Helpi. Whom I'm referring too is a variant I've come to call Helpmi. In Ruin, this corrupted version of Helpi is defined by his slight change in appearance and personality.
But more than that as I talked about in my "Helpi is a victim Prove it!" post. The source of our corrupted Helper in Ruin and is using him as a puppet is other than Glitchtrap. Our malhare has quite the fondness of using other known characters in the franchise as a trojan horse with which to interact and manipulate things. A quirk developed from his Mimic and Aftons origins, no doubt.
So when I say that Helpi can appear outside of the V.A.N.N.I network. What I'm actually saying is that Glitchtrap's Helpmi decoy can appear outside of that network. And that decoy can appear as any variant of Helpi, including Glamrock Helpy who makes an appearance in the Brazil ending instead of V.A.N.N.I. Helpi.
As to why it's Glamrock Helpy and not V.A.N.N.I Helpi who appears in that final image of that ending, I'm not totally sure. It could be that Cassie would be more familiar with that variant of Helpy as that one is the current standard design in the Pizzaplex, it may be because V.A.N.N.I Helpi is actually an entity compared to the other Helpys, or could be because Glamrock Helpy was the first version of him to be controlled by Glitchtrap.
Each possibility is likely, but no way to know the truth of it. At least for now.
But what's important here is that Glitchtrap is capable of showing those who wear the Security Mask a Helpi decoy that can direct them to do what he wants while he hides in the shadows. And that decoy can shift its appearance to fit any occasion.
Say a certain pizzeria that's deep under the Pizzaplex.
Is this Helpi actually Glitchtrap? Yes. Unlike Ruin's Helpi, this one is entirely Glitchtrap in disguise with no alter ego.
Wow, I just clocked in on that! Glitchtrap actually shows another trait of his Mimic predecessor by having a habit of putting on disguises! That is interesting...
Helpi, Nightmarrione plushie, and even Burntrap to an extent. I've been wondering why in this game, Glitchtrap seemed so intent on being hidden from our view. Especially since this is the type of situation that we should expect to see him since our mind is in the network.
We never see him up close, have a direct view of his full body, or face him directly. It can't be because he's stuck somewhere and has to communicate through a proxy as he personally hands us the memory dolls and even personally plays with us directly with his hand puppet in the Bonk-a-Bon minigame.
Maybe Glitchtrap being so hidden from us in these games after Help Wanted is not because he was cut from the games, but because he's deliberately hiding from the protagonists of these games' point of view and uses disguise to interact with them. Hmm...
Okay, we're getting off-topic now. But we will talk about this at a later date.
As for this Helpi retro appearance, I believe it has to do with being inside the pizzeria. This restaurant although is the location where FNAF 6 took place, may also be the place where a carnival happened to be. And if that giant Freddy we find near this restaurant is any indication, a Freddy 's-themed carnival that coincides with a certain annual festival that we've been hinted about in these new-era games.
Anyway, that about wraps it up about Helpi in this game. But I want to get further along in the deep dive to see if there's any else I can glean from this decoy.
Let's get back to the Help Wanted 2!
​
"Fizzy Faz fun! Meet production quotas and protect the bottom line." this was what the pop window for Fizzy Faz Night 2 read before pressed the TUTORIAL button and was transported by darkness into the void again.
"Make the correct order and send it up to the delivery unit. " "Give S.T.A.F.F. Bots a break occasionally or you may regret it." "Use the
Emergency Shut Down if things get out of hand."
Were what the ominous instructions floating in the void greeted you with. It looks like things aren't going to be so easy this night if that third one was any indication. With a press of the start button and a blink of darkness later, you find yourself back in the Mixing Room once again.
"You are back." was FIZZ Bot welcoming on your return.
"S.T.A.F.F may become hostile." Another warning about the dangers of the S.T.A.F.F bots. Looks like you are really going to need to start paying attention to them and how much of each ingredient you have.
"Give forced break." Nothing about your surroundings changed from what you've seen. Even that half-empty Sodaroni can that was between the tall monitor and the button control panel in front of you last time, was still there. So you decided to take these next few moments to prepare yourself for what's to come.
"If S.T.A.F.F strike, use SHUTDOWN button. Force reboot." Was the end of Fizz Bot's short and clip instructions for the night before the tall monitor let up, implying the shift had started and the work had begun.
(Oooh, that's what that button does, reboot the S.T.A.F.F bots. I thought it was just a lockdown button. I should've probably paid more attention to Fizz Bot's explanation on my first watch-through of this game.)
It was all going well enough for you, you followed the list of ingredients, placed the container in the delivery unit, and kept an eye on the S.T.A.F.F bots as quickly and as best as you could. Rinse and repeat.
To your misfortune though.
A loud metallic screeching noise echoed throughout the Mixing Room, throwing you off your rhythm and causing you to stare out your window and into the warehouse itself. You didn't see anything, so you checked the cameras for the source of the noise.
Your best wasn't good enough.
A whirring sound pulled your gaze off the monitor and back to our front window as something that wasn't there before had pulled up to the window and was now standing there.
It was a S.T.A.F.F bot but not one that you've seen before. It was covered in dirt like someone had pulled it out of some old dusty dirt pile left in some forgotten part of the warehouse. But more than that, someone had decided to give it strange markings made by a black marker.
Its eyes were blacked out and tear marks were given to its face along with a drawn gaping mouth designed in a way to give the impression of teeth and three stripes were made around its forearms. But the strangest thing about this bot besides the fact that it was made to look like Nightmarionne, was that there was writing on its chest and what it read.
"In your Dreams."
What? But before you could think another thought, the bot slammed its hands against the glass window before rolling itself towards your right. Right to the open exit door.
In a moment of panic and quick thinking, you slammed the emergency SHUT DOWN button in front of you before you lost sight of it in the front window. Immediately, sparks shot up from various areas in the room as a metal wall came down from above and blocked the front window and a metal door came down in the doorway. Shielding you inside the room that was currently letting off an alarm sound and blinking a red light.
With the metal shield blocking the front window and your right short monitor displaying a black screen preventing you from seeing the cameras, you were totally isolated from the ongoing outside of the room you were in.
Luckily, your other monitor was on and still gave you the current order, so using this time wisely, you finished up the next few orders before the shutdown was over.
Which was soon enough as the metal shields went back up, the red lights turned off, and the alarm became silent. The Nightmarionne bot that was once in your front view has disappeared, but you had no time to be more thorough in your search for it as you still had orders to complete and S.T.A.F.F. bots to manage.
​
I find it really odd and curious that the Nightmarione bots in this minigame don't have their glowing white eyes like in Security Breach. Is this implying that the minigame's version of these bots is just a recreation rather than being the real ones?
I just went and checked out the normal ending for this game because I remembered that the Nightmarione bots appear there too and the same goes for them. No white eyes...
At first, I was going to brush this whole thing off as just an ordinary appearance of that special S.T.A.F.F. bot. But the missing eyes thing is starting to make me believe that something else is going on here with those bots in particular.
But what?
I know that the S.T.A.F.F. bots, or at least some of them, have the souls of Fazbear employees or other victims trapped within them due to Security Breach voice lines for them. Is this telling us that the souls within them are no longer there? Or is it telling us that the souls aren't in the network that we are in?
What I mean by that last line, is that both in this minigame and the ending, we are integrated into the network through the Security Mask. But unlike Ruin, we are integrated into a different network, not the V.A.N.N.I. network.
Still, there's got to be a reason why Steel Wool decided not to give them their signature white eyes in Help Wanted 2. I can't think of anything so I'll just stick a mental pin on this for later.
​
Before long, the ending shift alarm rang throughout the warehouse letting you know that your shift has ended and your work was completed. "Return and work. Save time tomorrow." Was the last thing you heard before you were transported back to "GAME WON!" void to claim your reward from the claw machine.
Which turned out to be something surprising compared to the other prizes you've gotten from the machine. It was a red gumball machine with arms and googly eyes, aptly named Gumball Swivelhands.
Pressing the "RETURN TO HUB" button had you transported back to the restaurant. Once there, it was the same as usual. Helpy notifying you, that there was another task available and huh?
You spotted something in the left side corner of the restaurant that wasn't there before. What was weird was that it was something that you've become recently familiar with. Like, a couple of seconds ago.
Standing before you, right next to a bill-to-change machine, with an open smile, extended eyelashes, and a propeller hat was Gumball Swivelhands. How did it get here? Did someone place it here? Could you get a gumball?
No matter the question asked, the answer remained unknown to you. But this goofy gumball machine made you wonder if other prizes you receive will show up here too.
There was only one way to find out.
Back at the computer station, you clicked on the Staff Only folder to presumingly start Fizzy Faz Night 3 but you were shocked to find that the next unlocked file was another corrupted file. In fact, you had another file that was corrupted in addition to that.
This meant there were no more tasks that you could complete in the Staff Only folder until you figured out how to fix these corrupted files.
You stood there, staring at the screen wondering how were you supposed to fix them, until you sighed and closed the Staff Only folder window. There was absolutely nothing you could do, so the only logical choice you had was to pick a different folder to complete for now. Who knows, maybe one prize you will receive from one of these other folders holds the key to the corrupted files.
But which folder should you do next?
(By using a random letter generator and picking the starting letter of a YouTuber's name, we decide what to do next! So the honor of picking the next folder goes to... Huh, I guess there's not a YouTuber that played Help Wanted 2 with L as the first letter in their name.
Alright then, next letter! It's A! Which means Astralspiff!)
You decided to do Ticket Both next as you were curious as to what exactly that entailed. Clicking on the folder caused its popup window to be displayed and revealed what the folder contains. And surprisingly, there were only three things in it. Needless to say, that was much less than what the other folder had.
There were two locked folders and a file that was named Carousel with an icon of its namesake. Looks like this is going to be a little bit more interesting than the other ones too, going by just its name alone.
(Oh joy! It's the Moon minigame!)
Another click brought up the Carousel pop window which stated, "Enjoy a ride on the classical Fazbear antique carousel. May require technical support." Alright, it was time for you to see what this was all about and see what this folder had in store for you. And so with one more click, your vision was covered in black.
​
Not gonna lie, I was pumped to finish Night 3 of Fizzy Faz in this part. This is the second time where I'm ready to do a two-in-one special within one part! But I guess the Ticket Both minigames are going to have the honor of fulfilling that.
And oh joy, am I excited to get into this carousel minigame as my mind has given me an interesting thought which we'll explore more™ in the next part!

FT: SAN FERNANDO 1:3 CASTILLA

​

1ª FEDERACIÓN

​
Scorers/replays:
0:1 Álvaro Rodríguez 27'
1:1 Carlos Blanco 45'+2
1:2 César Palacios 85'
1:3 Álvaro Rodríguez 90'+3
​
match updates:
1' - kickoff, vamos!
14' - Mario Martín gets a yellow card for swinging his arm against the chest of an opponent - absolutely pathetic behaviour from the San Fernando player, who spent unironically close to a minute rolling around on the floor and holding his face, his neck....
⚽ 27' - GOLLLLLLLL DEL CASTILLA - David has space on the left side, and he puts in a phenomenal cross right onto the head of Álvaro - his header from around the penalty spot is just as impressive and goes top bins at the near post - Castilla basically score with their first arrival in the opponent's box!
35' - almost the recreation of the first goal, this time Cuenca crosses onto Nico's head, but his header is not quite as good and the keeper can easily catch it
40' - now a dive by Carrillo that is just as pathetic as the one earlier, in an attempt to get the opponent sent off - the ref doesn't fall for it and neither player even gets booked
43' - Nico cuts inside and shoots from far out, his shot is powerful but not well placed, so the keeper can parry it away for a corner
45' - a long throw is extended nicely by Álvaro towards the far post, where Nico appears again for a header from a very short distance, but again he doesn't hit it well and it goes straight into the keeper's arms
⚽ 45'+2 - no fucking way - Castilla fully in control and on their way to score the second, then a clear foul on David doesn't get whistled in attack. From that comes a counter attack, great cross from the right onto the head of Blanco, whose header is good, but from very far out. It's an easy save to make for Cañizares, but he lets the ball slip over his hand, then instead of parrying it off the line with his hands, lying down, he tries to somehow kick it away with his feet like a toddler - this keeper has cost this team so many points, and Raúl keeps on putting him between the sticks, it's so fucking ridiculous
HT - San Fernando dominated the earlier parts of the match, without creating much danger - Castilla scored out of nowhere, but then actually got stronger and stronger, edging close to scoring the 2nd goal, when with the last action of the first half, Castilla get punished by their own keeper and the referee
46' - second half underway
59' - clear penalty for Castilla not given, what is this referee doing? The San Fernando defender pulls Álvaro through half the box by his shirt, the referee with a very clear view, doesn't see a foul!
70' - now a big error by the San Fernando keeper, who blasts the ball straight into the approaching Álvaro - the rebound goes just centimetres wide of the empty net, so unlucky...
🔄 75' - Théo and Palacios for Manuel Ángel and David
82' - FIFA legend Biabiany now on the pitch for San Fernando
⚽ 85' - GOLLLLL DEL CASTILLA - Another bad kick by the San Fernando keeper, which lands at the feet of.. Álvaro plays a quick through ball to Palacios, who finishes past the keeper - San Fernando vehemently complain for offside, but one of their defenders lazily failed to hold the line and their complaints are to no avail - big goal for Palacios, who after so many missed chances finally scores his 2nd of the season
⚽ 90'+3 - GOLLLLL DEL CASTILLA - game over, San Fernando exposed at the back after pushing for the equaliser - Palacios finds a nice opening for Nico, who only has to square it to the wide open Álvaro. He rounds the keeper and puts it into the empty net!
FT - great performance throughout practically the entire match by Castilla, who deserved to easily win this match, which was only put in danger due to another error by Cañizares and some bad decisions by the refereeing team. Although not mathematically, the team is now realistically safe from relegation, having a 9 points distance to the relegation zone with only 12 points still to play for. Also, finally some goals by Álvaro and Palacios, after long weeks of dry spells
​
Kickoff: 18:00 CET
Venue: Estadio Iberoamericano, San Fernando
Referee: José David Martínez Montalbán
Competition: Primera Federación, Grupo 2, Matchday 34
Viewing options: FEF TV (subscription - 9.99€/month)
​
Castilla XI (5-3-1-1): Lucas Cañizares - David Cuenca, Raúl Asencio, Quique Ribes, Álvaro Carrillo, Lorenzo Aguado - Mario Martín, David González (75' César Palacios), Manuel Ángel (75' Théo Zidane) - Nico Paz - Álvaro Rodríguez
Bench: Mario de Luis (GK), Edgar Pujol, Vinícius Tobias, Rafel Obrador, Jeremy de León, Víctor Muñoz, Esteban Aparicio.
Unavailable: Gonzalo García (injury), Noel López (?).
Coach: Raúl
​
Castilla last five matches: LWLLW
1ª RFEF stats: 13th 41pt 10-11-12 38:40

(Mat just posted this on Facebook giving his take on quite alot of topics) Still haven't finished reading it, BUT I know others who don't have Facebook would be interested in what he has to say )

Matt's 5 most asked questions... since last Tuesday's episode.
This post won't be for everyone because it’s long & has lots of details. I'm sorry in advance to those that are Spelling/grammar purists. I write just like I talk.. lots or run on sentences-- with lots of extra dots….. and misplaced punctuation. If these juicy details aren't for you --- You are welcome to just move on. :)
Many of you I think will find some of this interesting--
Now that I’m officially not under a contract NDA, I can speak much more freely than I've been able to the past 20 years or so-- In fact, the first interesting tidbit to share is we (The Roloff family) signed our first contract with CBS (not Discovery/TLC) back in 2003-- It then transferred to Discovery around 2004/5 when we did the "pilot" Little People Big Dreams. It took a year longer to get the green light and finally air what is now considered the beginning of LPBW as you know it today.--- So Yes-- 20 years of being under TV contract(s).
Here are my 5 most asked Q's.. this past week.
1) Was last Tuesday's episode the 'Season' or 'Series' Finale? It's true that several family members have announced publicly that they are no longer interested in filming LPBW-- I think Amy, myself and producers have known this for quite some time-- We completed our contract obligations and wrapped filming last September 2024-- Season 25 was a very fun and fulfilling filming cycle and Caryn and I particularly enjoyed working together with Chris and Amy in so many productive ways- Of course we missed filming more with the other family members and were obviously disappointed not to do more things all together.
Here is my opinion on why TLC didn’t announce (at least not yet) this was the “Series” finale vs “Season” Finale. Clip look-back special shows in the works?? Maybe? Here is some more context-- Way back in early August of 2010 (14 years ago) the Roloff family had a family meeting and afterwards we contacted the TLC attorney and announced we were Done- We had come off a 40+ episode year (2009) and the filming process was a grind back then and disruptive to the kids schooling and discipline etc-- We thought we had completed our mission of educating the world on what it's like to be a Little Person in an average size world-- Enough TV filming already!! ....we wanted to go back to running the farm and our normal lives-- So We made it clear to TLC we were finished-- We had completed the last of a 5 year contract option and it was time to move on-- A few days later on August 26th 2010-- TLC PR department put out a press release that said... "Little People Big World Cancelled and season 6 would be the last."... (research Little People Big World on Wiki) The family got a bit of a chuckle out of that headline- but it was true enough to just go about our business-- Funny thing is... The show never was cancelled -- Wiki has that right! Many at the network still remember the announcement as jumping the gun so to speak-- A few short weeks later, the TLC attorneys contacted us and asked if we would consider doing a few 'specials'? We met again as a family... The production team was offering some interesting ideas. …mostly travel related that intrigued the family and offered Amy a chance to climb Mt St Helens among other ideas. --- They promised we would not have to grind out as many episodes (40+) but would just sign us up to a 1 single year "service term" No options to extend and produce 6-8 shows in a 12 month term -- Easy breezy- So by the Fall/Winter 2010 into 2011 we were somewhat reluctantly back to filming- By this point the core Roloff family had completed 6 seasons and several hundred episodes. A nice run by any television standard- We were most pleased that tens of millions of viewers on every content had a somewhat realistic view of life as a Little Person living on a farm in Oregon, USA.
After that season of 6 specials... It was pitched to us to do the Wedding Farm season-- Requiring (theoretically) much less disruption to our kids life’s and more focus on the Brides and Grooms we were hosting. That made sense for many reasons so we moved forward with The Wedding Farm season circa 2012.
This is WHY I THINK there is some hesitation to announce from TLC that the show is over-- Even though the family as a whole is enjoying being away from it all after 19-20 years-- Caryn and many other family members have publicly stated they are done with filming. - Remember our show is a relationship based program— As more and more family members drift away from the show it becomes more difficult to produce the same content— As much as many of you hate (and we see the comments) about the rifts and strifes between the family members, the better the ratings do— Nobody (they think they do but they don’t) wants to watch a show where everything is always happy go lucky and perfect— Viewers want relationship drama and then resolutions. The less relationship interactions that are filmed together on camera the harder it is to produce the show.
It's my opinion that you just never know what might happen in the future? I know I can't predict the future-- It's my guess that the network can't either... I do think that TLC did a nice job on the last Tuesday 'season finale' episode hedging their bets and putting a nice button on the show and where the family (members that still participate) stands--- so if LPBW never does come back (in whatever various other forms) I think consensus is they wrapped up the Roloff LPBW crazy train saga pretty good-- That’s why many of you felt it was a series finale.
So on this matter of whether last Tuesday was the Last LPBW Show forever?? Nobody really knows at this point-- I feel very content and satisfied with the Run of shows and the journey we shared with you all! The ratings continued to build and stand strong and consistent. We are super proud of that. More importantly then our ratings, I was at a public outdoor concert last night and the love I felt from so many fans was truly amazing-- I took many dozens of selfies with heartfelt fans.. So many stories of lives touched by LPBW. So many thank your for sharing our story. One of the concert's local police officers looked close to tears telling me how he and his late Mother would watch LPBW together in her final days. Wow--- I for one feel good about that.
You never know what the future may bring so if you are me-- (and apparently TLC too?) I hate saying goodbye-- Only See ya later ! ...and #lovelove
Hopefully this sheds a bit of light on where things stand in terms of the finale last Tuesday 4/23/24--- just my humble opinions. Not authorized to speak on behalf of any other individuals or companies.
2) Farm and family status - and What the Heck happened? As you all know both Jeremy and Zach expressed interest, at virtually the same time, several years ago (Nov 2021) in purchasing the Big house that sits on the North farm. As twins they have always been super competitive but this was one situation that I couldn't let one win over the other. As a father it was extraordinarily complex and I can't say I handled it without some mistakes and missteps. The State of Oregon has incredibly strict rules about dividing land up and splitting (the baby in half) property based on zoning laws. There is only one house on a single tax lot- There were 2 interested parties and one(1) house-- Think about that! Yes-- Money, retirement concerns, loan terms and maintenance responsibility all played a role-- But fairness to all four (4) of my kids and all grandkids played and weighted the heaviest- Keep in mind-- I shrunk the size of the North Farm with the big house for rent/sale and grew larger the land that stays in the trust- It's now 16 acres with the older Big House vs 90+/- acres with my new house and the DW and a dozen barns/sheds etc.-- That's NOW what we all consider The Farm.
I feel so blessed, proud and Love each and every one of my children and grandchildren- Jer and Zach each figured out (in their own timing) that the idea of breaking away from me and the farm (as you all know it over past many years) and individually establish their Own homesteads... build their own dreams ... bridges... barns ...shops and projects-- My heart is full to see that process in progress-- It hasn't been easy ... especially all while being filmed...and sometimes even very painful.. but in the end its all been productive and although in hindsight I would change several of my processes... I believe the results are better and I love watching ALL the kids find their independence and passions on their own terms.
While Jeremy, Zach and Molly manage their own individual homes, projects and farms... Our youngest who broke away from 'the crazy train' early to go see the world now in a poetic turn of events has returned with his family to an open canvas of opportunity. He's taking great advantage of many possibilities. The 90 + acre farm. He is living and working full time with his wife and son Mateo (named in my honor) on the farm. I understand if you've been watching LPBW 'since the beginning'... you are not as connected to the stories and lives of our 3 average height children-- But Please know they exist and Matter as All 4 of our kids do in the grand scheme of the farm--
So while the Big House / North Farm continues to be a popular tourist (Ha) AirBnB (itrip.net) destination …it sits right adjacent to the larger 90 acres that Me, Caryn and Jacob's family live and work on and run the Pumpkin Festival. Come see us in October-- You get to see all this first hand.
3) Do I see the grandkids? Let me start by saying... Yes it's true.. I (we) don't get to see Zach and his adorable kids nearly as often as any of us would like- We are always welcome to go see them in Battle ground but we don't see them around the farm very often-- I'm very proud of them and the way they raise their family and Zach battling thru illness and building out his own farm is what makes a father so proud to see.
I see Jeremy, Audrey and their 3 (soon to be 4) kids often as they live just a mile or 2 from the farm. As many of you that follow them know... he is renovating his house in a similar way that we gutted and remodeled the big house years ago on the LPBW show- The apple didn't fall far from the tree in terms of taking on Big exciting projects like his dad. It's super fun to see his kids pull up to my front door in their little battery powered jeeps asking for a juice box treat from grandpas pantry-- Jeremys and Audrey’s house remodel is a stunning example of the creativity and vision they are blessed with.— I
Molly loves her private life up in Spokane but we still see her often...Sometimes Caryn and I fly up to northern WA for a weekend visit and often her and Joel come stay either at the big house or at my new house. Molly and Joel were just here last week in AZ staying with us for 4 days enjoying the sun shine and taking in the local wildlife zoo- Always wonderful to Visit with the amazing Molly Jo and hubby Joel.
It's hard for me to not talk the most about Jacob. While you all see Zach and his family the most on TV.... I see and talk to Jacob, Izzy and Mateo the most. He has developed over the past 2 1/2 years a burning passion to run and generate his own projects on the farm-- He enjoys milling his own lumber, all things mechanical, setting up the annual pumpkin patch business while planting hundreds of new fruit trees and building gardens that grow their own organic foods and vegetables to feed his family (and me) -- Him and Izzy are passionate about the soil and the environment and they bring me fresh eggs from our chickens every other morning- They live on the farm and are always around working away with little Mateo collecting eggs and helping his dad pull the tools around in his wagon- Mateo and Liam (Caryn's grandson) are very best friends and play and adventure together on the farm frequently. I only wish you all were able to see how alive and vibrant the farm still is for the new generation--- OH Wait-- You can.... Come this October-- Those that came last Oct I'm sure you know what I mean?
4) Is my new house finished and when are we getting married
Yes I'm happy to report my dream home is finished-- I moved in just before Christmas in time to host the entire family (including Chris and Amy) for a holiday gathering. Caryn has now sold her home a few miles from the farm and is now living in the new house with me-- We Love it! The accessiblity features we had built into the design of this new home make my life unbelievably comfortable— From the perfect secondary (butlers) kitchen to the no step entry and lowered sinks and appliances .. it’s a fantastic home run build. We still love Arizona and plan to split our time 50/50 between the farm and down there. I tell all our friends in AZ ... You'll never see us here in October because we plan on hosting the Roloff Farm Pumpkin Festival for as long as possible.- I apologize i haven't shown more photos of our new house and i'll endeavor to do that soon-- We barely got moved in and settled and then bolted down south for our Spring sunshine trip to AZ-- Speaking of moving-- A quick update on my mother- In March she decided to relocate from AZ back up to Portland to be close to the farm and all the Grandkids-- Although Caryn and I miss seeing her down here in AZ we love seeing her more often in Oregon and all the grands take turns visiting her there as well-- We're currently planning a nice Mothers day event in Oregon. Still no news on a wedding date-- lol. We are loving life and the current status-- Between getting the house finished, wrapping up LPBW filming, moving my mother and all the other things that life throws at you we haven't had much time to really sit down and plan anything-- I imagine we will start working on that soon- But no date or location has been set yet— but actively gathering ideas.
5) Hows my health
I'm feeling healthier and happier than I have in years-- While everyone is busy as can be up North-- Caryn and I are enjoying some time in the Sun down at our Arizona get-away- We get up in the am-- She often goes over to see her folks a few blocks away- while I conference call with Jacob about farm business and then work on my computer a few hours--- Then we love to go float in the cool pool in the heat of the day before sitting on our back patio relishing in the dry warm desert climate-- Both Caryn and I are feeling very happy together enjoying our best life-- As far as the LPBW show goes... We think it had a wonderful record setting run-- educated tens of millions (maybe even hundreds of millions) of people across the globe… Normalizing to many, that people with differences are just like everyone else-- With varied opinions, personalities, goals, dreams and successes and failures -- We're just people like You and your families. The show may or may not be done in the current format for ever more... but either way I for one thoroughly enjoyed sharing a large part of my life journey with you and hope to meet you all in person one day along life's trail. Thanks to You all for sharing so much love and support to our family over so many years! Without You we would never have been able to change to Worlds perception of Little People— I feel like a Big Person in a Little World thanks to You.

It's a difficult job but the S.T.A.F.F. bots gotta do it.
Previous part: 4.
Wow, I can't believe I've posted two "Prove it!" at the same time! I'm never doing that again if I can help it. It was just unfortunate that both posts spoiled the other somewhat and required a thorough explanation that couldn't fit both in one post. Anyway, I couldn't start this part as soon as I wanted to because of life calling among other things, but now, we can get back to digging deeper into the soil of mysteries of Help Wanted 2. Sidenote: why does reddit keep messing up my links!
For those new to this series or who have lost which part or place they're on, check out The Jonsie Burrows: Help Wanted 2: Tables of contents to find where you want to go! If you haven't seen any of my stuff before then...
Hello, this is something you might have missed in Help Wanted 2.
Previously Post Interesting things:

1. Our main character, HW Jeremy, Cassie's dad, is already wearing the Security Mask before we even start the game. This means Glitchtrap has access to his mind and body. As for what that entails...
2. Help Wanted 2's AMask-on version of the FNAF6 Pizzaria might be based on Micheal's canonical look for it near the end of Pizzaria Simulator.
3. After completing each minigame, a party hat, plate, and cup will appear on the table next to you. Whose party are we attending as a guest?
4. The protagonist of Help Wanted 2 is HW Jeremy, discovered through the color blue items which are prominent in the game and used for his name and shirt in Ruin. Jeremy was a former employee of Circus Baby's Entertainment and Rental and may have been present during the events of Sister Location.
5. In the First Aid minigame of Help Wanted 2, the "GET WELL SOON!" drawings depict Baby's life as seen through Vanny's eyes, hinting towards the game's secret ending. These drawings also reveal that Baby's data card from Sister Location was inside Helpy in Pizzeria Simulator and survived the fire. As a result, her programming was eventually absorbed into the Pizzaplex's Network, leading to her appearance in Help Wanted 2.

Now back to our unregularly scheduled series!
​
You returned to the restaurant again and the time was still 12 a.m., business as usual.
Wasting no time and eager to see what new tasks awaited, you clicked on the Staff Only folder once again. Oh? Something amiss immediately grabbed your attention when you gazed at the files within the folder.
The file was unlocked, but it lacked a task-specific icon and name. The icon was that of a white broken file with a red dot with a white x on the right corner with its file name being a mismatch of letters in a long string.
As you glance continuously at the broken file, you notice that its icon has gradually changed colors. From a stark white to becoming an inverted purple. You've seen a broken file icon before, but never one that changed colors. But before your thoughts about it can wander far, the icon was altered again.
It didn't change into a new color, nor did it revert back to white. Instead, it gained a new element. The flickering, glitchy face of a purple bunny man.
​
Okay! I guess this is as good as any to start speculating on what's Glitchtrap whole deal is within Help Wanted 2. Now, I've mentioned this in Part 2.5 way back when, and I'm sure most have forgotten it already, so I'll repeat some of it here.
Glitchtrap in this game is not fractured as he was in the original Help Wanted, he is fully formed and complete. That means that after the Burn It All Down ending in Security Breach, his code wasn't affected by the collapsing of the underground and his time with the Tangle.
So what exactly is Glitchtrap's plan when it comes to Help Wanted 2 if what we're doing is not restoring him? This question is something I still don't have an answer to.
Vanny's plan, and in turn Moon's, seems crystal clear to me.
Subtlely trick our protagonist under Glitchtrap's nose to get Glitchtrap's essence and bring it to her to be disposed of so she can take over.
This tells me that Glitchtrap, while not fractured, is greatly weakened after Security Breach. Both in terms of power over the network and most importantly, influence over his followers.
But during the time of Ruin, things changed. Vanny and the Daycare Attendant are following Glitchtrap's orders and plan again and while anonymous, Glitchtrap communicates with Cassie and significantly influences her throughout the DLC.
So between now and Ruin, whatever made it safe for Vanny and Moon to try and attempt to overthrow Glitchtrap has been fixed. All thanks to yours truly, HW Jeremy.
So in Help Wanted 2, if we're not affecting Glitchtrap, we must be affecting the place that Glitchtrap is in, the Pizzaplex's network. That's Glitchtrap's end goal in Help Wanted 2, to fix something in the network.
Let's not forget what Ruin informed us about the state of the Pizzaplex's network when Cassie gets there. The majority of it is on security lockdown since the building's pause in deconstruction and demolition.
While this lockdown doesn't prevent people from physically moving or interacting with things in the Pizzaplex, it does prevent digital entities such as Glitchtrap from influencing those things.
But that's why Cassie's there in Ruin, to turn off that security lockdown, increasing Glitchtrap's power and releasing the Mimic. But what about Help Wanted 2? The security lockdown should be still up, so Jeremy has to be doing something else to the Network. And I think this broken file icon is giving us a clue about it.
Remember, what we see may not be.
Help Wanted 2, as we perceive it to be, is not true. It's not a set of minigames meant to be played in-universe by people. In fact, at no point in Help Wanted 2 so far, has it referred to itself as a game.
It never says anything about its development, the reason for its existence, or that it's a sequel to another game. The very first thing we see after we start this game is not an introduction video like its predecessor did, but instead an orientation video for a new employee.
It's not a tongue-in-cheek video for customers buying a game, but a genuine one meant for new employees, giving them a taste of what it's like to work at Fazbear Entertainment.
Help Wanted 2, the game is a lie. Its minigames are a lie. Maybe not fully as First Aid does inform us that it is meant to prepare employees for the real event, but it's not entirely truthful either.
Jeremy, and us by proxy, may see it as a game but it's not actually what it is. Surprisingly, Helpi helpfully helps us understand what we're actually doing and tells us exactly what these minigames are.
They. are. tasks.
What? You don't get it? Then let me help you out. You need to change the context of what tasks are. Tasks can indeed mean assignments or missions, but putting the word in a different subject gives you an entirely different meaning than previously.
So when I'm talking about tasks here, I'm actually referring to tasks in the definition of computers.
Now, I'll admit, when it comes to computers, my knowledge about them is only slightly above average, but that's what Google is for! So based on a hunch I had about the word "tasks" and searching for any relations to computers since we're on a computer in-game. I found something interesting about "tasks" in a computer sense.
I'll try to summarize it as best as I can to save space. A task is a set of program instructions loaded into memory.
Now computer memory is something I do know of as that refers to RAM or Random-access memory, and is basically information storage. So having bigger RAM in your computer means having bigger storage for your computer to process any information it receives.
However, program instructions are new to me too, but from what I understand it's simply a set of programming instructions that are performed as a part of a plan as a part of a code. Basically, a very specific instruction that a program follows to the exact detail so it can function.
So let's put this all in the context of Help Wanted 2 and what Jeremy is currently doing. Jeremy is standing at a computer (Both in the AR world and the real one, I might add.) and clicking on a bunch of programs in what we all perceive as minigames.
Now, let's think this through.
These minigames or program instructions are not executing themselves or following their instructions properly anymore, considering that most minigames are locked and to beat Help Wanted 2 you must unlock and complete all of them. (I believe, you need to complete all of them for both endings, I haven't checked.)
Maybe the code of these programs got corrupted, changed, or altered in some way by Glitchtrap downloading himself into Burntrap, along with the sudden collapse of the Pizzaplex, and the eventual security lockdown of the network. Leaving the programs unable to fulfill their instructions.
So this is where Jeremy comes into play. He can come in and correct the altered coding of the programs and manually restore them to their previous state to follow instructions. So when we complete these minigames, we're actually repairing the programming instructions. Which then opens up the next set of minigames or instructions that are in error.
It explains why he's wearing the Security Mask before we start the game, he needs to directly fix and interact with programs that help run the Pizzaplex's network.
This also explains why Vanny's not doing all this herself in Help Wanted 2. Right now, Glitchtrap is at his lowest since the original Help Wanted. There's not much he could do to Vanny now that he's kinda trapped in this lockdown network and maybe trapped in his Burntrap body too, now that I think about it.
But the point is, this is a rare opportunity for her to get out from under Glitchtrap's thumb permanently. But she can't go deeply into the network herself because that means being under Glitchtraps watchful eye, and if he suspects that she's going after him, he could just hide anyway to get to his code or just deal with her since her mind is going to be integrated into the network he's in.
So her best chance is what we see play out in the game. Using Jeremy as a sort of proxy to get to Glitchtrap and keeping her true ambitions hidden from both of them.
Yet, what are these program instructions really in Help Wanted 2? That, I'm not too sure about, nor am I sure how to uncover that.
However, what a computer task is, that being a set of program instructions loaded into memory does segway well into something I've been meaning to talk about for a while now since my "Princess Quest not canon Prove It!" post. I very briefly mentioned the need to talk about this in my "Jeremy Prove It!" post too.
And that is the importance of memories. But which definition am I referring to, computer's or the mind's? To be honest, I think that both definitions of the word fit this game or even this new era. As I'm starting to believe in this game we are diving into Glitchtrap's memories.
And more than that, he's been connecting the past games and the memories of the past to the Pizzaplex's network too.
FazFact: I literally just got done watching Tetrabit's video on Help Wanted 2's cut content because I was on a small break from writing this and forgot that I wanted to see that entire video, and oh joy! Does the cut content tell me I just absolutely nailed this and am on the right track!
But like before with my "Prove it!" posts, I'm not going to use the cut content as evidence for anything, mostly that the idea for it was there.
Now before my small break, I was talking about the idea of Help Wanted 2 being Jeremy diving into Glitchtrap's memories. How did I get to this conclusion?
Well, it has to do with a strange occurrence in the Princess Quest games, specifically, the third one that can be found in Security Breach and Ruin. It's something I've seen people talk about but never too deeply, both back when Security Breach was released and especially now.
And that's the curious case of Chica the chicken.
I'm gonna be real with you all, I totally forgot about her appearance in Princess Quest 3 for a long time. And even when I went looking for clues in the Princess Quest games to figure out some things in Ruin, I still didn't think much about her.
But now, that I've got my attention refocused on the Glitchtrap's Network again, and that I've come to the realization that memories are playing a bigger role in the new era, her reappearance in Princess Quest raises quite a few eyebrows and questions.
Why is she here and why only her.
She is the only other animatronic to appear in these Princess Quest games besides Grimm Foxy, and Moon (I think he counts too?). She's the only animatronic besides Moon that's not from the PQ games and the only animatronic that's from the past era. And most important of all, why FNAF 1 Chica?
Now, you could argue that this could be Whithered Chica but I'll just point out that Whithered has a distinct lack of black eyebrows that FNAF 1 Chica has. You could then argue that's it a restored Whithered Chica and at that point, we could argue back and forth on what she would've looked like and reach no conclusion because we have no idea what Scott intended for her to look like.
So until there's some grand reveal in the future, we can only go with the closest matching Chica and that is FNAF 1 Chica.
Back to our question, why that Chica? I'm not absolutely sure why, but I do have an idea.
If we're taking a look at the timeline, not too deeply! FNAF 1 Chica would've been the last version of Chica that Sussie was haunting before being dismantled by William Afton and melted down along with the others and placed into the Funtimes which then turns into Molten Freddy and Scrap Baby.
Unless that whole melted thing = Funtimes is not actually true, I should probably go look at that again to refresh my memory of it. But I believe there's canon evidence for that in Henry's {CONNECTION TERMINATED} dialogue and Candy Cadet's story. I'm not sure about Scrap Baby though.
Either way, FNAF 1 Chica is the last time she was whole and haunted by Sussie.
And Sussie plays a quiet but important role in the FNAF series. She was the first, the witness, she had seen everything. And that's our clue for why she's appearing in Princess Quest 3. She's watching.
She is still watching events unfold before her in the new era.
Dear readers, I'm sure some of you don't like what I'm suggesting with this. But I think it's about time that we all admit that the FNAF 6 fire didn't go as planned by Henry.
Something had survived that fire. I have an idea as to what, but I want to wait until the final Fazer Blast Minigame to talk about it. But just like Circus Baby's data card, it must've been a small piece of something containing the original fives' spirit. And just like Circus Baby, it was absorbed by Glitchtrap and is now in the Pizzaplex's Network.
But what does this have to do with Glitchtrap and his memories? Well, I don't believe that Glitchtrap is all that he appears to be. At least from the perspective of being a reborn William Afton.
I believe I talked about this before in one of my "Prove it!" about him, but Glitchtrap is not entirely replicating William Afton in his design. Subtley, tear stains are coming down his eyes, and drool leaking from his mouth. These design choices are a hint to the fact that Glitchtrap is really an offspring of The Mimic. Something that we meet in Ruin and are introduced to in the TalesBook.
The Mimic is a machine that can imitate and learn from anything it observes. It is important to note that Glitchtrap is not The Mimic, but rather a Mimic. And this is not to say Willian Afton has no influence over Glitchtrap, as his choice of appearance speaks on that alone.
But let's bring back this to FNAF 1 Chica. If Glitchtrap can learn what he observes then what about those unfortunate souls that still cling to the real world? What about their memories?
Help Wanted, Security Breach, Ruin, and Help Wanted 2, have one oddly placed thread running through them. That's the constant reference to the original Five Nights At Freddy's.
In particular the original core three animatronics
Help Wanted's entire lobby is a reference to that game and one of its endings has us stuffed in Freddy on stage, not to mention the cut Showtime event for that game. Security Breach's Rock Star Row has a stage dedicated to OG Bonnie, Freddy, and Chica. Ruin is an outlier, but Steel Wool had one of the earlier versions of the ending to that DLC, which had Cassie walk past a room that held the OG Bonnie, Freddy, and Chica.
And now here where we are in Help Wanted 2, and what do we see in the "GAME WON!" that's so out of place among everything. The iconic "CELEBRATE!" poster from FNAF1. Yes, I finally bringing that back up!
Something more is going on here with FNAF1, Glitchtrap, and the new era. I feel like I'm onto something but I'm just not there yet. The original animatronics, the six children, and Glitchtrap, what does it mean?
Yet, for now, we're going to have to put a pin on this train of thought and continue on with the game. I didn't mean for this to go on for so long.
But just keep in mind that the network holds the key to a lot of things and that lingering memories of the past are playing a role in this game and a bigger role in the new era.
​
What glitchy file meant would have to be discovered later as right now, it looks like Fizzy Faz Night 1 is the only task available to you right now inside the Staff Only folder.
Clicking on its icon, which happened to be three cans consisting of Sodaroni, Pink Lemonade Fizzy Faz, and the Exotic Beverage, made the pop-up window appear. It read, "Lucky you! A position recently opened at the Fizzy Faz Warehouse." (I wonder if this is a real place in the pizzaplex?)
With a click of the TUTORIAL button and a blink of darkness, you were in the void with instructions on what to do in this game floating right in front of you. "Make the correct order and send it up to the delivery unit. " "Use the cameras to see if the S.T.A.F.F. Bots are working."
Sounds simple enough to you as you'd press the START button and was blinded by darkness once again.
You were in a small room with a small window to view what seemed like a factory outside your room. Two monitors were in front of you on the white l-shaped table, the tall one on your left and the short one on your right, and were separated by a button control panel. A red button sat in front of the short monitor and looked like it was to be used in case of some emergency. On the edge of the table was the Fazbear Entertainment logo.
To your left were what looked like soda dispensers on the short end of the l-shaped table and a clipboard that had paper attached to it with some pictograms on it. That's something you want to look at after getting a sense of your surroundings.
To your front right was a doorway with a green exit sign above and further right was the end of the room with a 7-tier shelf full of boxes, a cabinet, a fire escape poster for your area, and a first aid medical wall station against the brick wall.
To the right of that is (Ugh! Why must this game be so dark!) what might be an open locker in the right corner, and from there was a printer-looking machine, a wall-mounted shelf with books, and a Marionette plushie that makes up of the rest of the right side of the room.
(Huh, that's neat. I think this is the first time that a Marionette plushie has appeared outside of a game corner area in these new-era games. I wonder why Steel Wool decided to place it here? Could there be something significant here in this minigame concerning the Marionette or something related to it? Hmm...)
Right behind you and taking up the rest of the room was a massive control panel. It had multiple monitors that ran its entire length and all of them displayed a red Fazbear Entertainment logo that occasionally spun in synchronization.
Although you could only make out a lone chair in this dim area behind you, the sheer number of buttons and dial knobs that this control panel had, led you to believe more people would've sat at this panel. But there was one thing that gave you pause when glancing at this control panel.
It was the oddly placed work tools that sat in the middle of it. A yellow cordless power drill was on the left and a large wrench was on the right. What were they doing here? Although this was a warehouse that appeared like it would've needed the periodical maintenance to keep everything running smoothing, it doesn't explain why someone would have just left these tools here on a control panel.
Did they have to leave quickly and have no time to put them away? Was it an emergency or something else?
​
Hmm, could this be a clue to something? Anyway, I'm curious about where this place is in Security Breach, so maybe I'll find something there. I believe I know where this place is.
Okay, I've found the general area! It's that place you appear in after going through the vent next to Salad & Sides after getting the Monty Mystery Mix from behind Bonnie Bowling Alley. However, I can't find the exact area where we are in Help Wanted 2.
This is possibly, the absolute worst area to find a video of! Some people take the alternate path to compact Chica and completely miss this area, while others just go straight to the next area without exploring much and I can't just type this area name into youtube either because nobody has a video that is exclusively about this area!
But thank God that Steel Wool put a gift box in this area because I was able to find, well... something. I can't exactly say it's the same room because it looks completely different from how it's depicted in Help Wanted 2. Actually... I take that back. What in the world?
The objects present in this room are identical to what is shown in Help Wanted 2. From the shelf and first aid station to what I originally thought was an opened locker but was actually a steel door. To the big business printer and the Marionette plushie I never knew was there in Security Breach, it's all the same, except for a few loose wires, the fire escape poster, and a completely different front and left area. Even the work tools are there in the exact same place!
This is the same room! But why is it so different?
Okay, I going to have to take some screenshots or make a gif so you all can see what I'm seeing here as I can't possibly describe just how different yet similar the room is. Well, I could, but it will be really long and confusing.
So here we have Help Wanted 2's version of this space, and here we have Security Breach's. Take as much time as you need to compare the two.
That front area in Help Wanted 2 is just another massive control panel in Security Breach. That glass window panel we look through to see the vats and S.T.A.F.F. bots is not there in Security Breach but its opening is still there and blocked by a wall and the left side of the room is completely different in both versions.
I know what you're thinking, doesn't this mean it's simply a different room? That's the thing, this is the only room in this area that's even remotely close to what we're standing in in Help Wanted 2. All the other rooms are either the security rooms or the office rooms. And the fact we can find the exact same objects in the exact same place between these two versions, means they have to be the same room.
So is Help Wanted 2 showing us a past version of this area? No. We have to remember that we are currently wearing the "Security Mask" and that Jeremy's mind is integrated into the network of the Pizzaplex and is looking at everything through the lens of the AR world.
And just like in the Daycare Attendant's room in Ruin, the mask just shows an altered version of his room, not necessarily a past version of it.
So what this tells me, is that Jeremy is in this area right. now. In fact, this is very solid evidence for the idea that Jeremy is physically moving to the many areas of the Pizzaplex during Help Wanted 2 when he clicks on these programs.
And right now, Jeremy is in the Pizzaplex's Mixing Room!
Hmm... This gives me another thought. Most of the areas that we visit in Help Wanted 2 are areas we don't see in Ruin. I wonder if those same areas we visit have similarities between them and the AR world of them. That's something to look into later. Back to the game!
​
"You are here."
A masculine voice said, spooking you from your sight-seeing and causing you to turn back to the right side of the room. It was a S.T.A.F.F bot with a yellow safety helmet and pad in its left hand. It's probably a bad look on you if you're getting too engrossed in looking at your surroundings if a S.T.A.F.F. bot managed to sneak up on you.
Fizz Bot held out its pad with words on screen. Taking a closer look at it, it seemed to be a worker's waiver. "Sign here. Start work," the bot said insistingly to you.
Well, you're not going to sign anything unless you read it first. (I'm not going to type this out... I don't have to right?... I'm going to have to type this all out, am I? Wait, we have technology! Have this screenshot instead!)
After thoroughly reading and understanding what the waiver said, you tap the on-screen button on Fizz Bot's pad, causing him to roll away and out of the room and into the Mixing Room. After that, you grabbed the clipboard and got a better look at the sheet of paper that was attached to it.
It was the order instructions numbered 1 - 3, telling you how the dispensers and monitors work and that the red button was for the waiting S.T.A.F.F. bot workers. At least that's what you thought that 3rd instruction meant.
You put the clipboard down and out of the way once you heard Fizz Bot speak up again from somewhere that you couldn't pay attention to as the tall monitor suddenly turned on its display.
"New job. Instructions. Use container. Collect necessary ingredients. Make Fizzy Faz syrup." Grabbing the container from the opening of the tall monitor, you immediately began following the dispensing order on its screen.
"Convenience. Order display necessary ingredients."
You placed the now-filled container back into the opening in the tall monitor as that was your best guess on where it needed to go. But it didn't do anything. Now what?
"Fill ingredients." You were way ahead Fizz Bot there. Maybe you needed to place the container somewhere else?
"Next two ready. Placed in delivery unit. Press "Smile" button." Oh, that's why those two things lit up beneath the monitor. One button on the left was the simplistic image of a smiling Freddy while the other button was that of a trash can.
You pressed the smiling Freddy and heard the noise of the syrup mixture being sucked out of it
"If error mistake, press "Trash" button. Dump bad ingredients down drain. This is both a waste of company time and money."
You feel that you've got the potential rhythm down for how this is going to be for your time being here. You quickly flick through the camera on the other monitor to see all of the camera angles you have available to you just as soon as the container has returned, waiting to be filled again for the next order.
One camera, was not like the others as it showed you what seemed to be an area filled with trash. It must be the Sewers. (I didn't expect to see or mention this place again so soon. Then again, we are right near the trash compactor that leads Gregory there in Security Breach.)
"Be warned. Dumping ingredients down drain may attract unwanted pests." was Fizz Bot's last advice before you dive into work. You were ready for anything.
(FazFact: From Tetrabits cut content video of this game, Steel Wool did at one point, plan for the Tangle to appear in the Fizzy Faz minigames. To be honest, the Sewers are the one place I can imagine finding the Tangle before Security Breach.
As I mentioned in my Prototype "Prove It!" post, the Pizzaplex sewer system is massive. Big enough for The Tangle to fit in quite comfortably. Which is why I'm surprised we never find it down there in the none of the games.
Although having it appear in Help Wanted 2 as a part of the minigames did bring up some interesting questions. Like is it, in any sort of way, connected to a network? Or is it running purely on agony and is independent of the network?
Having it appear is not that big of a deal as a fully-detailed digital replica of Vanny appears in Help Wanted 2 too. It all just ties back into the idea that the network has data on everything that has been connected to it or was recorded into it by Glitchtrap. And since we first encountered The Tangled near the FNAF6 pizzeria and Burntrap's boss arena which has Vanny's bed in it.
Both Glithtrap and Vanny are very aware of The Tangle's existence already.)
What happened next... was kinda short and chill. You did what the order needed you, which as it turn out, wasn't a lot. You began to wonder if there was some job like this out there in the real world, that could give you the same perks as this one. Clock in, do a couple of orders and clock out. Sounds like the dream job to you. Though it depends on the pay...
"Return and work." Fizz Bot interrupted your internal debate on payment. "Save time tomorrow." Was the last thing you heard before darkness retrieved you and you were in the "GAME WON!" void again. Greeted by sounds of celebratory yells and screams.
With a press of a button, you retrieve your prize from the claw machine, which is in the form of a cardboard box filled with plastic balls. A Discount Ball Pit doesn't sound like the greatest idea ever when regarding physical health and safety.
You press the "RETURN TO HUB" button as your vision fades to black, thoughts wondering if the rest of the Fizzy Faz nights will be this easy as well where the last lingering comfort before you disappear from the void.
​
Oh joy, where have I been! Was I on some impromptu vacation? Did I have an emergency? Was I lazy and bored of doing a deep dive on Help Wanted 2? None of the above! Unfortunately for regular readers of this and me, I got sick shortly after my first two Prove It!" posts. As you can tell by me not mentioning it at the beginning of this post, it was during the time of me writing this too!
So, unfortunately, I couldn't write this while I was sick. Well I could, but it wouldn't have any interesting thoughts or findings about the game. Just a boring play-by-play as it was hard to think while sick. But I'm mostly recovered now, so on with the show! Continue on to Part 6!

As many of you have heard by now, Candace Owens was fired from the Daily Wire for spreading Antisemitic beliefs, which went way beyond her rather neutral stance on the Israel-Hamas War. Many of these beliefs included Blood Libel, use of the term "Christ is King" when she was feuding with her colleague of the outlet, Ben Shapiro, etc.
That being said, her ousting has caused me to ask myself one question and you should ask yourself the same thing. Why was the Daily Wire able to draw a line between Candace Owens and her Antisemitic rhetoric yet wasn't able to do the same thing when she spread Anti-Black, Anti-Women, Anti-Ableism, and Anti-LGBTQ rhetoric?
I mean, the Daily Wire never had an issue with Owens when she criticized the LGBTQ community for being a "sexual plague on society", as well as her criticizing the use of a model with cerebral palsy in an underwear advertisement as "ridiculous" because she doesn't "really understand how far we're going to take this inclusivity thing".
Her criticisms of the Black community, which consist of a mixture of generalized statements and tying the actions of individuals to all of them never seem to bother the outlet as well. Other criticisms include her calling Juneteenth "sooo lame" and "Ghetto", believing that the "Media lying to Black Americans pretending that High Murder Rates, Illiterate Children, and Degenerate Music is 'Progress'", stating that Netflix and UberEats having Black categories is akin to Jim Crow "Segregation", wearing a "White Lives Matter" shirt, and stating that "being a Straight White Male today is exactly like being a Black American during Segregation".
Now, let's not forget when she actually questioned if there was "one objective thing that has gotten better in American society since Women were given the right to vote", even going so far as to stating that Women in the Workforce are a "Distraction" and that "Things have gotten worse at Work since Women joined. Since Women joined the Workforce, I think that Men are having to deal with all these Landmines everywhere." Seriously, how is the Daily Wire alright with this sort of Misogyny?
To combine those two topics together, she expressed fear and distrust of Non-White Male and Female Pilots during her rants against DEI.
But in reality, she only managed to make herself a hypocrite for spreading such views, while not doing the same thing herself. She believes that women should stop chasing careers and focus on making babies, yet she has a career as a talk show host while not making babies, let alone looking after her two children. But the epitome of her hypocrisy has to go to her endorsing convicted sex trafficker, Andrew Tate because of his so-called pro-masculine and anti-feminist views, yet this is the same person who criticized the Black community for glorifying the wrong role models. Still, there has been little-to-no criticism from the Daily Wire for her doing that. Why?
So in conclusion, Ben Shapiro and co-founder of the Daily Wire, Jeremy Boering suddenly seem to realize how harmful dog-whistle bigotry is after Candace Owens went after the one marginalized group that they can't tolerate prejudice against. It's a pity they can't do the same thing about other marginalized groups and instead, shrug them off. After all, they're Conservatives, right? Aren't they supposed to view everyone as equals and not divide them and advocate for only one group? But hey, I guess some groups are better than others and that's why they deserve more support. Also, Freedom of Speech has its limits. In fact, we can't always be politically incorrect because it seems to do more harm than good.
As for the Conservatives out there who've been critical of Candace Owens for her behavior, character, and being a caricature of herself in recent months, many of us who were against her have tried to warn you for years about who she really was from the very beginning. She's always been like this. She's the epitome of the typical Modern Black Conservative. Nothing more than an endless cycle of Self-Loathing and Grifting in the name of Personal Responsibility and Individualism. The fact that it took you this long to realize who she really was goes to show you how successful she managed to brainwash all of you.
*On an unrelated note, another reason why she was booted from the Daily Wire was because she spread wild conspiracy theories of French President Emmanuel Macron's wife, Brigitte, who she believed was a man. This ironically caused many Conservatives to criticize her for peddling such an insane theory. Why I find this pretty ironic coming from them is because these are the same people who believed in the same thing about former President Obama's wife, Michelle. But like what I discussed in the topic above, they only understand this through their hypocritically restrictive Right-Wing Framework and Worldview.

"Hello? Hello? Please, I need help."
Jerry grasped his stomach, his face contorted in a grimace of pain.
"I, my stomach... I think I have a tummy ache!"
I unsuccessfully stifled a laugh. Then we were rolling around the basement, hooting and hollering. A couple hours into our smoke session, we couldn't help but try a few harmless prank calls.
We exhausted our options of the local restaurants, and calling Jerry's cousin with my phone, before we got the brilliant idea to try 911. I was against it. Jerry's argument was we lived in a small town and the operators wouldn't mind a break from the boredom.
He won.
"AGGH, MY TUMMY!" Jerry wailed. He threw his arms above his head, pretending to gasp for air.
I cackled, slapping my knee. It really wasn't that funny but we were zonked out of our minds.
Jerry had flung his phone across the room during his exaggerated performance. I stumbled toward it, short bursts of laughter firing from my chest.
The call was still connected. No problem, I went to hang up.
A woman's voice droned through the speaker.
"We are sending someone your way."
"No wait-," I brought the phone to my ear. The line disconnected.
"Damn it. Jerry."
He was still writhing on the ground.
"Jerry, I think they're actually coming."
He stopped and craned his neck until he was looking at me upside down.
"For real?"
"Yes, dude, they said someone's coming."
Jerry paused. A confused look passed over his face.
"But. How? We didn't even give them an address."
"I think they can track that shit now."
"Cap," he shook his head. "No way. That's gotta be illegal. Tracking your location?"
He looked at me, grasping for validation.
"It's the police, not some hacker in a StarBucks."
Jerry moved quickly towards the T.V. and plopped himself down on the couch.
"Whatever, they pull up we say wrong house."
He brought up Netflix. The marijuana in my system soon scrubbed the worry from my thoughts. We sat and enjoyed the show until a dull knock from upstairs interrupted.
Jerry jumped from the couch and looked at me wide-eyed.
"Shit."
We were at Jerry's house and both in high school. His parents were out of town for the weekend but if they heard about this, he could forget about summer break.
"I didn't think they'd actually come. SHIT. Hide the weed."
"Shut up, relax. They'll go away after a while," I said. He was starting to really freak.
There weren't any windows; his basement was completely underground.
Another knock floated down the stairs.
Unable to bring his attention back to the T.V. he jumped in the air again.
"Lights! I left the lights on upstairs."
"You are an idiot."
Jerry's eyes were hot red. In contrast, the situation was sobering me up.
I scratched my head roughly. "Alright, I think I can talk to them. Stay down here."
He thanked me profusely and gave me water to chug for my breath. At the top of the steps I looked back. Jerry gave a thumbs up and waved me on from the bottom.
Like he said, the living room lights were on and through the opaque glass of the front door, two silhouettes.
I glanced at my reflection in the mirror and walked nervously toward the front.
That moment with the knob in my hand, I could've made a decision that saved me from the paranoia I've suffered since.
Instead, I let them in.
The porch lights were off. The glow from the living room birthed uncanny shadows through the screen door onto the faces of the two outside.
I waited for them to speak. Soundless and motionless, seemingly refusing to breathe. From each of their shadow-masked faces I could only make out a wide smile with teeth dimly illuminated behind the screen.
That silence was far too uncomfortable.
I started, "He-"
"Apologies for disturbing you," one interrupted. He sounded young. It caught me off guard. Maybe it was the dark, but their smiles never moved as they talked.
"There has been an emergency. We are looking for Jerry."
Alarm bells started ringing.
"You might have the wrong house. Sorry, sirs."
I moved to close the door. We had never mentioned our real names on the call.
"Jeremy!"
That voice sounded familiar. It was enough for me to jump away from the door as if electrocuted. One of the silhouettes outside pressed its face into the screen.
"Jeremy, come here right now!"
"Mom?" Jeremy's voice called limply from the basement.
Air evacuated from my lungs. The screen door was opening. With no thoughts in my head beside to flee; to put as much distance between me and the thing coming in, I scrambled up the stairs to the second floor. It was closer than the basement and I locked myself in a bathroom.
I started to type out a text to warn Jerry. There were muffled voices from the living room.
"You must be Jerry."
Too late.
"Uhm, yes. Where's my mom?"
"She stepped outside. What seems to be the problem Jerry?"
"Oh, that. That was an accident. We butt dialed you I think."
"Hm, yes. Your friend. Do you know where he is?"
I sent a burst of texts to Jerry.
DONT TRUST THEM.
YOUR MOMS NOT HERE.
GET OUT.
"Yea, I'm not sure, he was supposed to answer the door. Uhm... uh...
"Is everything alright, Jerry?"
There was a pause.
Then Jerry spoke, unsure and slow.
"Yes. Is it okay if I step out to talk to my mom? She must be really worried."
"Why, yes."
I heard footsteps start before the sounds of a scuffle.
"he-, HEY! WHAT THE HELL!"
There was banging and the the sounds of glass shattering.
"Quiet him. Good."
A frantic grunting followed.
The initial fear was beginning to dissolve. The urge to save my friend powered my legs. I crept down the stairs painfully, one step at a time, listening to the voices - the silhouettes from the dark - speak over Jerry's feeble cries.
"I have a rookie here with me today, so please be patient."
Halfway down the stairs, the wall ended. The slowest I've ever moved was right then, creeping my head around the edge until half of one eye was clear.
They were facing away from me, two men in paramedic uniforms standing over Jerry. He was on the ground bound by straps with gauze shoved into his mouth.
One of the paramedics with long hair knelt. He ran a hand over Jerry's face who shook him off and yelped.
"Give him some monoxide."
The long haired paramedic reached into his bag and began attaching tubes to a gas cannister with the big red letters CO scrawled across it. Jerry's eyes widened and he began thrashing even harder.
He attached the other end to a mask and turned a valve on the cannister. A hissing sound filled the room and the gas mask was forced over Jerry's mouth and nose.
"Hold him."
After 30 seconds Jerry's attempts to free himself noticeably weakened. Within a minute he was unconscious.
During all of this I tried to think of someone who could help us. I didn't want to call anyone, afraid they'd hear me from where I was. My parents were asleep. Even if someone was awake they'd probably call 911. That's what brought them here.
"Go ahead. Do the assessment."
The paramedic directing the long haired one was short and stocky. He turned the valve and the hissing quieted. He pointed at Jerry signaling Long Hair to continue.
Once again, he ran his hands over Jerry's face, then through his hair reaching behind his ears down to his neck. Long Hair went over Jerry's entire body, prodding, pushing, and groping every inch of him. When he reached his toes he turned towards his partner flashing a grin.
"Nothing wrong with him."
"That's terrible news. What was the chief complaint?"
"Abdominal pain."
He shook his head.
"We missed our offering tonight. Young, healthy. This one will make up for it. Bag and tag. You'll learn a lot from him."
Long Hair nodded and exited the house. The stocky one rummaged through another bag and pulled out a sharpie. He lifted Jerry's shirt and began drawing a dotted line below the navel.
"I can't see you."
I flinched. Somehow, I knew he was talking to me.
"But I know you're there. I want you to know this isn't any fault of yours. Or his. This, us. You can call it coincidence. Or fate. Whichever you believe. But, believe in it."
He capped the sharpie. The dotted line had become a dotted oval, stretching across Jerry's abdomen and encircling his belly button.
"We're here to help."
Long Hair walked back in with a stretcher. They quickly loaded Jerry up. He was still unconscious with the mask on him. Long Hair wheeled him out the door and the other called after him.
"That's where you're going to cut. Get the tools ready."
Then he looked into my eye. He smiled. When he spoke he used Jerry's voice.
"Does your tummy hurt too?"
I could barely move, but shook my head.
"Goodbye."
When the house was empty, I cried so hard I passed out. In the morning when I woke, I searched the entire house for Jerry - for proof that it was all a nightmare. There was no evidence; of Jerry or the paramedics.
Haven't seen them since.
I called the police, the real ones. The story that stuck was I woke up, and he was gone. I got a ticket for the weed. That's really it. There was nothing to prove my involvement. Nothing that could prove anything really.
Didn't just lose Jerry that day. No one talks to me. Can't even ask for homework answers anymore. All the adults try to hide their conversations about me. Not that I care much.
To be honest, I'm still looking for my bestfriend.
A week ago it was late driving home from work. An ambulance pulled up beside me at a stop. It's lights weren't on but I kept my foot on the brake when the traffic light turned green.
I tried to get a look inside from the back window but it was too dark to see.
Just make sure, that it's really an emergency when you dial that number. And if you do, make sure that it's really them.

Husky Diner Experience Yesterday. Food Good. Lots Of Gang Crap. Notice Your Fax Number Has A 81 In It The Gang Talk Was H.A.

GregCarr gregcarr900@gmail.com15:35 (58 phút trước) đến huskycardservices, surreytalkradio, rcmp_business_link, bcrcmp, linda.annis, Chilliwack-Hope, MP, marc.landry, EMrewards, nacc, info, info, [Info@surreypolice.ca](mailto:Info@surreypolice.ca), tips, tony.luck, Tina

Husky Diner Experience Yesterday. Food Good. Lots Of Gang Crap. Notice Your Fax Number Has A 81 In It The Gang Talk Was H.A.

GregCarr gregcarr900@gmail.com15:35 (58 phút trước) đến huskycardservices, surreytalkradio, rcmp_business_link, bcrcmp, linda.annis, Chilliwack-Hope, MP, marc.landry, EMrewards, nacc, info, info, [Info@surreypolice.ca](mailto:Info@surreypolice.ca), tips, tony.luck, Tina
Hi And Shalom,Service by the female waitress Nadene I think was her name was on her name tag was good. Place is dated noticeably older than the convenience store they share a washroom with. Food was good omelette with a glass of milk sourdough bread. Only two other tables the one table of 3 White men 55ish plus in age was talking about crime the whole time they said they were working for H.A. and in 8 years would be given a car one mentioned my Uncle Dave for some reason who has a daughter who lived with one of them for 4 years until he dumped her. Someone in the back of the place a employee sounded like a Indo male loudly stated his opinion of Whalley Faggots which is a violation of the BC Human Rights code and just plain bad employee behaviour. My first time there. Lots of talk of bootleg cigarettes never seen any of these ppl before. A truck stop is great for smugglers and organized crime and the Ebus from Hope and other places makes a15-20 min pit stop there every day. I have noted gang problems at Esso's before.

At Least 5 times 7-11 Or Esso Contacted Me For More Info But Did Nothing. Bad Service Esso- ESSO 7-Eleven 37866 10376 152 ST Surrey Criminal Gang Activity. Friday May 12 2023 5 PM.

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notmyrealname carr

19:07:42 3 thg 9, 2023đếnAt least 5 times 7-11 or Esso contacted me for more info but did nothing. Bad Service Esso- ESSO 7-Eleven 37866 10376 152 ST Surrey Criminal Gang Activity. Friday May 12 2023 5 PM. Yahoo / Sent Greg Carr <greg...@yahoo.ca> To: Newton Newton , Surrey_Fleetwood , me...@7-11.com , ask.slu...@7-11.com , speedpass....@exxonmobil.com , Brandislounge Info Hide
Sat, May 13 at 6:49 a.m.
Hi,
Young male Indo employee nametag said Jatin made rude comments about me and told me I was not welcome there a female coworker made comments about supporting the Hell's Angels. I bought a pizza sub and large water. While this was going on a White man came in short hair, dress shirt white with handcuffs on his back belt and a gun in a holster on his right hip he looked a bit nervous he gave a grey fair sized package to a female Indo employee and told her to give it to a man whose name I don't remember she immediately opened the locked door to the back went inside and did not reappear. Short haired Asian man verbally confronted a female employee and told her, " We don't want that H.A. stuff here." The man with the handcuffs and gun left the store and departed in a purple vehicle a American built Dodge car parked to the right of the door. There were numerous witnesses and video should have recorded the whole thing. I have never seen a non law enforcement officer with a gun in a store or gas station in my 58 years life before nor have I ever had such a negative experience at a Esso or 7-11. I have been going to that store at the corner of 104 Ave. and 152 St. off and on for a decade no bad experiences before this. Ppl in the H.A. organization have threatened to kidnap myself in the last year. By contrast earlier in the week was at the Shell station 1591 56 St. Delta and would give that experience a 10 out of 10.
Sincerly,
Greg Carr. Were Jatinder and his coworker fired can I and the RCMP have a copy of the video?A BRAIN FRIED COCAINE CASUALTY JEREMY NATHAN DYCK WHO GOT A RESTRAINING ORDER ON ME IN SURREY BC FOLLOWED ME TO HOPE, BC AND MADE SURE I SAW HIM SEVERAL TIMES WITH HIS CRIMINAL BUDDIES OVER THE COURSE OF 3 DAYS INCLUDING BEHIND THE LOCKED FENCE AREA OF CANYON CABLE ON 5TH AVE HE WAS YAPPING WITH THE GUY WHO RUNS THE KINGPIN LOUNGE A SELF DESCRIBED DIVE BAR NEVER SEEN THE BEARDED MAN AWAY FROM HIS BUSINESS IN 2 MONTHS. HE JEREMY TOLD ME HAD VANDALIZED MY RV ANOTHER TIME CONFRONTED ME WITH BRASS KNUCKLES WITH 6 WITNESSES present ON 75A AVE. in SURREY a person in my building called RCMP he another time came towards me with a baseball bat in the rear parking lot of the King's Cross Mall he used to deal drugs at Kelly's Pub and hang with Jason the H.A. guy and Darren Chow the H.A. guy who managed the place. Jason a total druggie threatened me in Chilliwack in the last two months Darren no longer works at Kelly's Pub. He Jeremy used to drive a black S.U.V. with 3 H.A. support stickers and wear Haney support gear showed me pics of him with H.A. full patches. Husky 7620A Vedder Rd, Chilliwack, BC V2R 4E8, Canada Get DirectionsPhone: [(604) 858-5113](tel:6048585113)Hours: Open 24 hoursWeb: local.myhusky.caEmail: [huskycardservices@fleetcor.com](mailto:huskycardservices@fleetcor.com)Fax: (604) 824-0481Facebook Profile: VisitGoogle Maps: VisitFoursquare: Visit
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Husky Diner Experience Yesterday. Food Good. Lots Of Gang Crap. Notice Your Fax Number Has A 81 In It The Gang Talk Was H.A.
GregCarr gregcarr900@gmail.com15:35 (58 phút trước) đến huskycardservices, surreytalkradio, rcmp_business_link, bcrcmp, linda.annis, Chilliwack-Hope, MP, marc.landry, EMrewards, nacc, info, info, [Info@surreypolice.ca](mailto:Info@surreypolice.ca), tips, tony.luck, Tina

Happy New Year, my debaucherous little devils. Miss me? I know you all thought I grew tired of my little project, since you haven't heard from me in ages! But, never fear, dears. I could never leave you. And, just remember, just because I don't write about something now doesn't mean I won't write about it later.
Now! Let's get on with the show.
In an attempt to get everyone to like her, Cokie Mason threw a lavish, over the top party - although she kept insisting it was called a soiree. No, Cokes. That's what Logan will throw once he's finally rid of your crazy ass. We'll all join in support. In fact, we're all surprised it hasn't happened yet, but we doubt anyone is more surprised than SugarBear Brent and Number 2 Nolan.
She insisted everyone wear masquerade masks, because apparently we were all just cast in 2004’s A Cinderella Story. But judging by the way she was stomping around, screeching and shouting at everyone - including poor Logan - this might have been yet another remake of Jurassic Park instead.
Because no one in this town is allowed to be single or go without a New Years kiss, there was also a “match the ribbon” game, which is about as juvenile and ridiculous as it can get. Naturally, the entire idea was Grace's. Good job, sweetie. The point of the game was to find your match and kiss them at midnight. But some of us did a little bit more than that, didn't we? Let's dive in.
Everyone was dressed to the nines, which was to be expected, but some girls might need a bit of a refresher on what that actually means. Lingerie is not formal wear - looking at you, Jenny and Kara. But, really, what do we expect from the two girls whose combined body counts could fill the Calvary Cemetery? These two definitely missed the "more is more" memo, and I think we all know what colour underwear they were wearing. I'm kidding. We know they don’t bother with a pesky barrier like underwear.
Stoneybrook’s very own Hell’s Angels showed up in masks, but not the ski masks they generally wear while they rip off wallets and CDs. TJ even decided to get dressed up - likely in an attempt to convince his sweet little virgin that he’s actually a responsible, law-abiding citizen. Come on TJ. We all know Lauren is as naïve as a six year old, but do you really think a button down shirt - likely with the security tag still attached - is going to get her to believe you’re not a worthless piece of trash?
If anyone should have been wearing funeral clothes, it should have been Ice Pick. Sources say Sabrina all but maimed him when he dared to show up in her presence in - gasp - denim jeans. Hey, Sabs? I think it’s a step up from the handcuffs he’s usually wearing - and I don’t mean while he’s in bed with Jacqui.
Speaking of Jacqui, she decided to skip out on this party for something better. One can only assume “something better” in Jax-speak is “a gutter behind the sewage plant”. I’d like to say we missed her, but I think the only ones longing for her company - aka, her vagina - are King and Ice.
Since Austin and Stacey broke up - on Taylor Swift’s birthday, no less - my inbox has been flooded with details about these two. Honestly, we all knew this was coming. And we all knew why. Reporting on it would be like saying “Katie Lopez is a slut” or “Meg Jardin has huge jugs”. Really, what’s the point? But you guys are so obsessed with them, and since I’ll do anything to keep my readers happy, I’ll dish on this.
Stacey, clearly not happy with the consequences of her actions, accosted Austin at the party to “talk”. Judging by the dress she was barely wearing, she expected to do a lot more with her mouth than talk. But Austin wasn’t taking the bait. He cussed Stacey out, made her cry, and then got drunk. But Stacey, on the other hand… well, if you didn’t notice her and her little revenge dress parading around the party after talking to Austin, no, your eyes weren’t playing tricks on you. Boy Crazy Stacey ran all the way home… but if you think she spent the evening alone, think again. Hey, speaking of crazy… where was Robert? I’ll give you two guesses, but you only need one.
Speaking of Robert - I mean, the Wish version - Bob and Sheila were once again looking cute and cosy… until they weren’t. It happened so quickly, my sources didn’t even have time to assume their positions. Hey, Cokie - you need some Hi-Def cameras outside. People don’t give a fuck about the food you serve, but rather, the tea.
From what we can gather, Sheila and RoberTemu were fine, until they went outside. Unfortunately - damn you, Cokie - we don’t know what was said, but one of them ended things with the other. Sheila immediately left the party (or did she?) and Bob stayed and did unmentionable things with questionable people (kidding, they’re 100% mentionable… stay tuned…) so I’ll leave it up to you, my darling fans, to come to a conclusion on your own. But, don’t worry, Sheila. Bobby Hensen is single. And Justin Roberts. We know your type, babe - and it’s not just falling for guys who don’t want you. We know it won’t be long before you’re flirting with another guy while insisting you’re not a slut.
On the topic of girls who insist they aren’t a slut, Mad and Harry appear to be finished, but they also appeared to be alone in a bedroom. So… I suppose we get to watch the two of them dry hump at the next party, before spending the next month shooting glares at each other from across the room. Rinse, repeat. It’s beyond embarrassing at this point, Mad. Have some respect for yourself. Harry sure isn’t going to give you that.
Dorianne showed up in a revenge dress even more scandalous than Stacey’s. She was clearly on a mission to get Irv to regret being with Emily, or to show off the freckle on her left bum cheek. Either way, Irv definitely noticed, and the two of them were spotted in a quiet but not so secluded hallway, thisclose to making a little Dirv Jr. That is, until they were interrupted by the lumbering oaf himself, Clarence King. Maybe he was just looking for a quiet place for himself and…
Penny, obviously. These two can’t seem to keep away from each other, even though Penny is dating Mr. Perfect(ly Fine) Pete, and King is incessantly humping anything with tits. But the two of them were spotted together in the kitchen, where Penny decided she must touch King and fix his hair. Okay, Pen. We didn't know you had such high aspirations of becoming a hairstylist. And King, remember when you had your fingers up Sabrina’s twat? What happened to that guy? Whipped, and for a girl who’s not even yours. But, if Peaches keeps this up, she might be back on the market before too long.
Jo Deford has basically had a personality transplant, to go along with those boobs of hers that have finally grown in. We used to think the sluttiest one in the Deford-Weller household was Penny, but wow Jo, you’ve surpassed your step-sis by miles. Everyone knows you’ve been fucking Butch - because you tell anyone who’ll listen. I’m sure your homeroom teacher even knows the details. And I know you thought wearing a Saran Wrap dress would get his attention - and maybe it did, for a minute. But… we all saw him leave. And we all saw him kissing someone who wasn’t you at midnight. You might think you’re special, but… this is Butch. You’re not. He does a lot more than kissing with a lot more than you. Gee, I almost feel bad reporting on this. It’s like kicking a puppy. A puppy with great tits and loose morals.
Mary Anne showed up to Cokie's hoe-down, though not with pitchforks and torches. We’ll save those for Dawn the next time the cafeteria serves beef. No, Mary Anne showed up with Howie, her new boyfriend and the biggest snoozefest since Malex stopped pretending to hate each other. And, naturally, since Mary Anne and Howie are so new and in that blissed out, honeymoon phase, they spent all night laughing and talking on the couch. Oh… wait… * checks notes *. My mistake. Mary Anne was on the couch, but Howie seemed to look an awful lot like Cary Retlin. Not that there’s anything wrong with a boy and a girl laughing together on a couch… if that’s all it was…
Peter and Hannah fought. I feel like I could end the report just like that. Similarly with Staustin breaking up, who cares? These two won’t be far behind. I don’t think I’ve ever seen either one of them without a scowl on their faces. It’s more than just a bit of annoyance - these two hate each other. And, after the fight at the party - where it sounds like Peter didn’t compliment Hannah enough, or in the right way, or with the right words - these two might be dunzo. For the sake of all our sanity, I hope so.
One midnight rolled around, all of the lucky (desperate?) ribbon holders found their matches. While some of the matches were hilarious - Jenny the Whore and Saunders the Bore, Momma Steph and Daddy Todd - some of them were so into each other, you could practically smell the secretions. And, despite the masks, we know who everyone was paired up with. Job perk.
Butch and Zoe were dry humping each other into oblivion, when one of them had the mindset to, oh, I don’t know… remove the mask. Once they both realised who the other was, they remembered they hated each other. Oh, right. We’ve heard that one before. So, when’s the wedding?
Newbie Slut Jo immediately saw Butch and Zoe and did what any insanely jealous chick would do - grab the closest guy and try to make the one you actually care about jealous. But, despite playing tonsil hockey with Steve Randazzo and making him grab her ass, Butch didn’t appear to see Jo at all. Better luck next time, Ho. I mean, Jo.
Literal minutes after Sheila “left the party”, Bob stumbled in Tallie Brennan’s general direction and practically face planted onto her lips. The two of them were causing quite a scene before disappearing upstairs. Even Malik would be able to figure out what went on behind that closed door. Tallie, I know you and Sheila both play softball, but she’s got a hell of a lot more experience with balls and bitches than you do. You’re about to learn the meaning of FAFO, girl.
But, Tallie might be in luck. Sources say after Sheila left the party, she didn’t go far, and ended up sitting on the front porch with Aaron Albright the rest of the evening. While they allegedly just “talked” and definitely didn’t drunkenly stumble into any bedrooms, maybe Sheila doesn’t give a fuck where Bob dips his stick. Fun fact: take a guess what Aaron’s middle name is? I can’t make this up, people!
Despite being an unimaginable, self-righteous bore, Saunders seemed to like what Jenny was bringing to the table - like thousands of guys before him had discovered. My sources lost track of them after midnight, but something tells me they weren't hiding out in a quiet place to talk. It's nice getting your ding-dong played with, isn't it?
Cary kissed Mad and Harry kissed Savannah, but we all know those pairs didn’t leave the party together. Like I said above, Mad. It’s just embarrassing at this point. You’re worse than Jo, and that’s saying a lot. Find someone who actually wants to commit to you, and stop following Harry around like a little lost puppy. And Harry, leading girls on is for kids. Maybe it’s time you grow up. You know all too well what it’s like to be hurt, don’t you?
In an interesting turn of events, both Irv and Emily - who are, for some reason, in a relationship - took ribbons from Grace’s Bowl of Wonders and each ended up with the person they used to want to kiss - Ross and Dori. Dorianne actually apologised to Emily on her way out, but considering how she was absolutely feasting on Irv at midnight, was this really a sincere apology? We all know she’s a somewhat decent actress. Or was she just trying to make herself feel better for grinding another girl’s boyfriend into a fine mist? Or for giving that boyfriend a sense of false hope?
One member of this fucked up little foursome who didn’t seem to give a shit that Emily has a boyfriend was ol’ Spaghetti Arms himself, Ross Brown. While Ross should have been terrified that Irv would crush him with his pinky finger (the man is dumber than a sack of hammers, but definitely doesn’t skip arm day. Or his steroid injection), he seemed to happily accept Emily's advances. And why wouldn't he? It's not like the ladies are lining up to suck face with Ross Brown. I would imagine even Shawna would turn him down. Ha, oh wait. She doesn't know how to do that.
Speaking of our favourite dumb blonde - well, one of them, anyway - Shawna was paired with her bestie Tequila Taylor's ex, Bart Taylor. Considering Bart has somehow caught the attention of SDS transplants Meg and Greer, we don't know why he was searching for someone else to kiss, but maybe he's trying to up his chances that someone will want to kiss him. Why, we don't know. But, don't worry, Sauced-Suz. Shawna is your friend. Of course she turned Bart down. Oh. Oh wait. Nope, she absolutely did not, and the two shared a midnight kiss. They didn't check one another for cavities like Ballie or Dirv, but a kiss is a kiss. Keep your eyes on Jeremy, Suz. Shawna’s hungry.
Yes, it appears the “Most Likely To End Up On An Episode Of Intervention” from our graduating class managed to find a dark corner to snog with Jeremy Rudolph. Either that, or she was puking all over his too-tight (but I'm not complaining) shirt. That's her kink, Jer. Buckle up, it's a wild ride when the Sloppopotamus is behind the wheel.
After connecting during a boring as fuck game of beer pong after the State Championship game, Austin seems to have found himself a reStace-ment - see what I did there? Andrea Kirkland is the complete Anti-Stacey, and judging by the way Staustin ended things, it's exactly what Austin needs. The two of them shared a sweet-ish midnight kiss, and managed not to scream at each other in the process. Enjoy the low-key romance, Austin. Or will you be bored to tears? Stay tuned.
Before I bid you all farewell, I have one question for you - did you see the new, sparkly ring on Margie Greene’s left hand? It appears everyone's favourite Toxic Twosome is about to make a trip down the aisle - assuming they can get to the altar without breaking up again. Hey, Margie. You're glowing. When does the Twosome become a Threesome? And I'm not talking about the kind Marty wishes you would join him and Corinne in. But true love conquers all, doesn't it? Good luck. You're gonna need it.
Until next time, my darling douchebags! Xoxo 😘

[dont read this part] My name is Renaes. It’s pronounced
​
[Reh-nay-es]
​
I woke up to the worlds most annoying alarm clock, screaming that annoying beep for about a minute. I decided to acknowledge it. I rolled over in bed and looked at the time; 7AM. I reached my arm out from under the covers and slapped the snooze button.
​
This was a normal routine for me every morning. Wake up hit the snooze button twice and groan out of bed. I lifted the covers up and sat hunched over in my bed. I put my hands to my face, feeling quite dead inside. I did my morning stretches and made my way upstairs. The stairs freaked as I walked up each one before my bare feet hit the dining room floor. I began to slowly make my way to the kitchen, grabbing a bowl and a spoon. I opened the fridge and grabbed some milk, pouring into the bowl almost halfway. People always make fun of me for this but I don’t really give a damn. I shut the fridge and grabbed the Lucky Charms box, filling the bowl up. I sat at the table and slowly ate my food, while scrolling through Reddit. I finished eating and put the bowl in the sink before heading back downstairs. I turned on the shower, and hopped in after undressing. The water was refreshing.I scrubbed away yesterday’s dust, I stepped out and wrapped the to around myself.
​
I don’t wanna go to work today, I groaned.
​
I made my way upstairs and changed into my work clothes. Bright reflective orange shirt, khaki carhartt work pants, and my favorite pair of cowboy work boots. I slid my cap on and grabbed my backpack, after shoving my lunchbox in it. I snatched the keys for my Silverado off the counter and headed outside.
​
The sun was still coming up and the air was cool. I hated summer. I liked the winter time. No bugs or anything that would kamikaze dice your eyeballs. To be honest, the worse the weather the happier I am! I started the engine and started Spotify on my phone. I put on my favorite playlist before pulling out of the driveway and heading down the gravel road to the highway.
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I was so worried this morning. But I didn’t know why. I stopped at the stop sign and made a left. I headed to the gas station to talk to the cashier Megan. I always stopped by every morning. I walked in and walked past her.
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“Good morning Reneas!” she said as i walked in.
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“Good morning.” I said with no emotion. I grabbed the usual: a Nestle double chocolate milk and slice of fresh breakfast pizza. I pulled out my wallet as she was scanning the milk.
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“Anything exciting happen at work yesterday?” she asked. “I found a cool rock” I said.
​
“Nice! You gotta show me them sometime” she stated with what seemed like fake amusement. I stuck my card into the chip reader. It flashed with the normal debit card options and I punched in my pin. I grabbed my stuff and headed out the door. “See ya tommorow!” She hollered as I headed out the door. “See ya!” I said back. I got in my truck and began the 10 minute drive to work.
​
I arrived in the gravel parking lot and exited my truck, making my way to the doors. An explosion of cool air conditioning hit me as I walked inside. I pulled out my company ID card and swiped it through the clock in machine. A pleasant beep chimes and ai turned to my right to enter the locker rooms. I walked over to my locker, opening it up. I grabbed my helmet, mine respirator, headlamp, and the walkie talkie off the charger. I shit the door and headed back to the break room. I set my gear on the table and plopped my backpack on the ground, pulling out the chocolate milk and slice of pizza. I began to eat as other guys started walking in doing the morning clock in procedure. Just as I finished eating, Tyler turned himself around to talk to me.
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“Hey so yesterday I blew a hose in my excavator. I’m gonna need some hydraulic fluid. Mind getting me some?” he said.
​
“Yeah I got you,” I replied pulling out my tiny notepad, scribbling down his request. Our shift leader Mike walked in with his normal look. Sunglasses, bandana, yellow reflective shirt, and jeans.
​
“Alright y’all shut the hell up time for meeting.” he said. This was his language for ‘good morning’. He began passing out shift sheets telling people what sections needed drilled, scaled, and bolted. My name was always up top. A single word next to my name said “BIO”, meaning Bio Fuel. Nothing unusual. I was the underground fuel truck driver of the mind. I drive a 2007 Peterbilt 357 that has an extended frame with a giant fuel tank. trailing it was boxes and compartments full of supplies for other people and machines. The back side of it had hose reels for fuel, grease, hydraulic fluid, oil, and other fluids.
​
We finished up meeting and I got into my assigned pickup truck to take people to their machines. We headed out to the decline to enter the mine. It was a road on a 23% grade, heading down 250 ft. to the mine entrance through a big tunnel.
​
We drove down the tunnel. It was dark. Swallowed by blackness. The mine is about 32 miles all the way around. I dropped off James, Brett, and Lisa at their specified machines and I headed to the depot to retrieve my semi. I put the truck in park and hopped out. I grabbed my backpack and crossed the dirt path to the semi. I proceeded to complete my pre-shift, checking the tires, lights, brakes, and other important stuff requiring the truck to operate.
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I signed the sheet, and opened the door to the cab. It squeaked as I opened the door pulling myself inside. I sat down on the air ride seat, dropping 2 inches. I set my clipboard on the passenger seat and turned the key. The truck grunted and rumbled to life with a mesmerizing roar. My truck had a CAT C10 engine in it, one of my favorites. I let the air build up before pushing in the parking brake. I pushed in the clutch and grabbed the shifter for the 13 speed transmission. I threw it into 1st gear, and let off the clutch. I took a left to get onto the main road. I shifted smoothly as I drove down the road. I approached section 38 and made a right. I spotted Allison in a scaler and made my way towards her. I blew the air horn to let her know I was there. She honked back to me, signaling I was good to back up to her. I reversed into the heading and stopped about 3 feet away from him. I pulled the park brake and hopped outside.
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“What’s up idiot?” she yelled jokingly. “I don’t know. By the looks of it so far it’s your shitty heading.” I hollered back. I saw her laugh as I approached her. Allison was about a year younger than me but without a doubt I could see her beating the shit of anyone here. She’s what we call the she-redneck. Me and her kinda had a thing for each other but I never attempted to make on her. I grabbed the fuel hose and pulled it from the reel, handing it up to her.
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“So… how’s it going?” she asked.
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“Splendid.” I replied.
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“Did you hear about Jeremy?”
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“No, why?”
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“Well apparently yesterday he got so freaked out he literally drove his haul truck up top and went home!” she said. “He said he’d seen a tall monster chasing his truck!”
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I chuckled to myself a little. People around here, mainly haul truck drivers, will claim to see Native Americans standing in corners, freakish deer like creatures. One even said they saw a girl on a tricycle.
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“Jeremy’s gettin old. He’s probably losing his mind!” I said slightly laughing.
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“Yeah without a doubt!“
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I opened my mouth to speak but just as I did, we heard the sound of crunching and rumbling. It stopped and it was quiet. Just the low idle of the truck provided sound for us. Then it hit us.
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A huge gush of wind slammed us hard, followed by an insane amount of dust as it blew my over. I hit the ground on my ass and stumbled to my knees. I yelled to Allison.
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“Hey are you ok up there?!” I yelled over the dust. No response.
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“Yeah I’m fine! What the hell is happening?!” she shouted over the wind.
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“A section of the mine must’ve collapsed! We’re gonna have to EVAC!” I yelled. “Shut off the fuel valve and hand it to me!”
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She leaped overtime the hose and took it out, handing it to me. The dust was still flying everywhere. The collapse had to be very big. Allison jumped down from her scaler as I reeled in the hose.
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“Get to the cab of the truck!” I yelled to her. She nodded her head and lifted her arms to her head, trying to see through the dust.
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I managed to open the door and climbed inside slamming the door behind me. Allison was already inside, panting heavily.
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“Oh my God. Oh my god oh my god!! It’s gotta be close to us!!” she yelled panicking.
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“Hey hey hey, calm down. We’re inside the cab we’re fine right now. We gotta wait for this dust to settle then we’ll EVAC. I can already imagine Mike has called for one right now.” I grabbed my radio and called for Mike. “Hey Mike you got a copy?” I said. We waited for a response. 10 seconds… 20 seconds… then 30. Nothing. Not a peep from the radio.
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We sat for a minute in the cab as the wind and dust settled.
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“Maybe it collapsed right next to us.” Allison said, finally breaking the silence. “Imma go take a look. Wanna come?” she asked. “Sure.” I said. We both opened our doors and hopped down. We walked up to the opening of the heading and made a right. We walked about 40 feet before we saw it. The ceiling had collapsed right by us, blocking the main road. Our only exit.
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“Son of a bitch.” I mumbled.
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“What are we gonna do?” cried Allison. “That’s our only way out!”
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“I’m thinking, I’m thinking. calm down we’re alright.” I reassured her. “Let’s head back to the truck maybe we can find an old cross cut that will get us out of here.”
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I should make this clear real quickly. Cross cuts are basically roads that you follow in the mine. We walked back to the truck and I got inside as Allison went to grab her stuff in her scaler. She returned five minutes later and hopped back inside. I pushed in the parking brake and eased into first. The truck slowly made its way around the corner and I threw it into third. The engine echoed off the wall around us as we drove. Allison rolled her window down and stuck her hand out the window.
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“It got really cold all of a sudden…” she murmured.
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I rolled down my window and stuck my hand out. She was right. The temperature had definently dropped. The mine was almost always 56 degrees but now it felt like it was 40. “That’s weird.” I said. As we were driving things began to happen. My trucks engine brake would turn on , without me doing it. Lights would start to flicker.
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“What the fuck…” I said as I pressed buttons. I slowed the truck to a stop and let it idle.
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“What’s wrong with the semi?” Allison asked.
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“I’m not for sure. Maybe the dust got in the electrical system or something.”
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Allison raised her head up. “Taillights!” she said with joy. I looked out the windshield and sure enough, she was right. I grabbed the radio and called out to whoever was in front of us.
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“Hey who’s in front of me right now?” I called. No response. I pressed the talk button again. “This is Renaes in the fuel truck. I’m on…” I looked at the pillar spray painted with the number on it. “…crosscut 10. Who’s in front of me?” Still, no response came. We looked at the lights. Then they…. wait no that impossible. Did they just blink?
​
“You saw that too, right? Or am I going crazy?” Allison said.
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“No I saw it too.” I replied. The lights linked again then they just simply, turned away.
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“We don’t get paid enough for this shit.” Allison snorted.
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I drove forward slowly finally reaching the spot we saw the lights. “You see anything?” I asked. Allison stuck her head out the window turning on her headlamp.
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“Nope.”
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A loud roar rang out around the area.
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“Oh my god what was that?!?” Lisa cried, frantically rolling up her window. “Something’s down here!!”
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“Chill out maybe another part collapsed.”
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It then got louder again. A huge roar that had an elk whine or something to it. I started getting antsy. “Ok that ain’t no coyote or anything.” I put the truck in reverse and began backing up. I looked up at the reverse monitor and got a giant cold rush through my body.
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A tall creature was standing right behind the truck. It had dark fur, but parts of it were missing, revealing exposed tissues, bones and organs. The head was some kind of deer skull. My mind instantly shouted at me.
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Wendigo.
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A god damn wendigo.
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I shut down. Allison looked up at the monitor and screamed. “OH MY GOD WHAT IS THAT?!?!”
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“Lock your door! NOW!” I yelled. I threw the truck into first and slammed on the gas. We began tearing down the road. Well… somewhat. The truck is governed to 35 miles per hour and the beast was still on our tail. It ran on all fours, vapors pouring out of its nostrils. I made a left at a random cross cut and slammed the gas.
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“LOOK OUT!!” Allison yelled.
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I looked forward to see the beast in front of us. How the hell did it get in front of us? I put the brake pedal to the floor as we skidded to a stop.
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“BACK UP! BACK UP!!” She screamed. I began backing up as fast as I could but there was an issue. The truck died. I frantically reached down and turned the key. The truck struggled to start.
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Come on come on come on come on! Don’t fail me now! I screamed in my head. There was a loud shatter of glass and I raised my hand as glass flew everywhere. Allison screamed. A rock the size of my head laid between us.
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I looked up to see The monster charging for us. I turned the key once more and the truck started.
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“Fuck it!” I screamed and slammed the truck into first.
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The truck pounced forward and we hit the beast, throwing us up in our seats. I floored the truck as we drove.
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I was bleeding from the glass on my face and realized a piece of it was stuck in my head. “Allison pull this shit out of my head.” I said, sounding pissed. She reached over and grabbed the piece, pulling it out.
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“W-w-what is that thing?!” she cried. I’m from a heavy Native American bloodline and I began telling her the story my grandma told me many years ago.
​
Just as it seemed we were safe, My door made a loud crack. I turned my head to see what it was and the second I did, the door was ripped off its hinges. The next thing I knew was that I was tumbling over in the ground, watching the truck roll forward. I rolled probably 20 feet before laying on my side. The loud jake brake kicked on and the truck began to slow down. I could barley see. I scrambled to my feet, reaching up to turn on my headlamp. I felt nothing on top of my head. My helmet must’ve came off when I was pulled from the truck. I stood up but the second I did, I felt a giant hand on my back. The wendigo had grabbed me. I was picked up and thrown like a toy that a toddler didn’t want to play with anymore. I flew through the air, head spinning. I hit the side of a wall with a thud. I heard something crack and I fell face first on the dirt. I rolled over, thinking to myself. Is this where I’m gonna die? The wendigo began to approach me. It snarled loudly and kept forward. CRACK! Allison came up to it with a roof bolt and smacked it on the head. It howled in pain as it began rubbing its snout. Roof bolts weigh almost 20 pounds. They are almost 6 feet long, so they can deal some damage. I forgot I kept them on the back of the truck. Allison dropped the bolt and came to my side, lifting me up. Damn she is strong.
​
“Come on!” Allison yelled. “Get up!”
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I was pulled to my feet and began trying to run to the truck. Allison was about 5 feet in front of me, as I slowly trailed behind her. I was limping on my left foot as I ran. I must’ve screwed up my foot when I hit the wall. I made it to the cab and put my foot down on the first step.
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Thwump. I felt something in my leg. At first I thought it was something from the cab but then It burned. Bad. I looked down at my leg. There, sticking through my right leg, was the roof bolt. Allison moved over to drivers side and stared down at me before letting out a shriek. I looked up at her and blankly told her, “Get out of here. Now.”
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“No! I’m not leaving you! Come on! Please Renais!”
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“GO!” I shouted.
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She hastily began to get in the seat. “Try and find a way to the depot!” I yelled. She nodded her head as she wiped tears from her head.
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“Give me your helmet!”
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Allison swiftly took hers off and threw it to me. She began to drive away slowly.
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I turned and looked around as the headlamp through the darkness. I looked at my leg and grabbed the bolt. Slowly, I began trying to pull it out, yelling out as I pulled it through my leg inch by inch. With one final grab, I pulled it through, blood coming out of my leg. I grabbed a small roll of duct tape I carry in my pocket and began wrapping the wound. I put the tape back in my pocket and looked around, bolt in hand now.
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“Where are you at?!” I shouted. “Get out here now!”
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“Renais!” I heard Allison call out from my left. I turned immediately and began trying to find her.
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“W-where are you? Where’s the truck?!” I shouted.
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“Help me please I’m over here!” I heard her cry from behind the pillar. I limped my way over to the pillar and found the corner.
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She wasn’t there. I stopped in my tracks. “Oh shit…” I mumbled. Just then J was knocked to my face. I turned over to my side to see the wendigo staring at me. It looked over me, those red eyes staring into my soul. I got to my feet and held the bolt in my hands.
​
“Alright. Let’s tango.” I grunted. I charged over to the wendigo with bolt and swing with all my might. The beast easily dodged my attack and turned to claw me. I ducked as I felt the wind of the hand as it passed over my head. I swung the bolt right into the beasts snout and it cried out. I raised the bolt over my shoulder again and began beating the monster over and over as it tried to recover. After about 4 hits to the beast it raised its hand up and grabbed the bolt mid air. It stood on its hind legs and ripped the bolt out of my hands throwing it over a berm. I wasn’t giving up easy. I charged at it full throttle and toppled over it, sending us both flying to ground. I began punching it’s chest, but I could see it had no effect on the beast. It grabbed my side and threw me almost 30 feet onto the ground. Just as I was standing up, I felt it grab my legs and it raised me in the air string at me. It then spoke. “You’re a daring one.” It said in a low menacing voice. “What compels you to think you can just take over my kingdom?”
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“I-I didn’t know it was yours.” I sputtered. “I’m just here to do my job-“
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It cut me off.
​
“I will propose you a deal,” it boomed.
​
The wendigo stared at me. Steam pouring from its nostrils. It spoke.
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“Release me from my prison. I wish to be outdoors where I deserve to roam. The others have kept me here.” it spoke.
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“O-others? There’s more than one of you?”
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“There are many of us here. They prefer to hide in the deeper parts of this cave. They won’t let me leave but I decide my own path now.”
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“So what do you w-want from me?” I coughed.
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“Do you have a way to get me out of here? Perhaps I could ride in one of those massive machines with boxes on them” it said.
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“Those are called haul trucks,” I remarked. “And no, because they dump rocks into a big crusher. They never go up top.”
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We stared at each other.
​
“Perhaps I could hide in a small…haul truck that I see others drive.”
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My thoughts began racing. This wendigo was just a foot taller than me, so maybe he could curl up in a ball and I could cover him in a tarp. But it made no sense. How would I get him out without others noticing? Surely I didn’t want to let him out to kill others.
​
“Won’t you just kill others once release in the daylight?” I spat.
​
“If I’m provoked to the point, maybe. Why do you think I’m letting you live still?” it said.
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It had a point. Truly this thing was now counting on me, despite almost leaving me dead right now. I took in a deep breath.
​
“I can get you out, but it won’t be for a bit. You’ve done some narly damage to me,” I winced.
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The wendigo tilted its head. “How long?” it asked, sounding annoyed.
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“I don’t know maybe a month or two? You fucked up my leg man. There’s a hole the size of a quarter in it!” I spat back. The wendigo stared.
​
“I will allow this deal, but if you break this promise I will rip your spine from your back and flay your skin. I’ve seen you many times. I know where you are.” it said.
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I shuddered. “Ok. Done deal. Take me to my truck and bring back Allison now!” I said.
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The wendigo nodded, and picked me up in one hand carrying me over to the truck which was smoking. I didn’t see Allison anywhere. The wendigo set me up against the cab.
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“I will return shortly with your companion. “ it said.
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“Her name is Allison.” I told it.
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“Ok…. I will return with Allison shortly.” The wendigo turned and bolted into the mine. Minutes later it came soaring into view, Allison over its shoulder setting her down beside me.
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“I saw a small haul truck approac-“
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“Just call it a pickup dude.” I said cutting it off. It stared me down shortly then continued.
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“I saw a pickup truck approaching on my way back. I will return to hiding. Remember our deal. I’ll be watching for your return.” it said before sprinting into the darkness. Allison coughed as she continued sobbing.
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“Did it hurt you Allison?” I asked.
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“No…” she whimpered. “When I was driving it got in the way and I crashed into it….” She looked at my leg, which was covered in blood and dust. I don’t know what compelled me to do it, but I reached over and grabbed her hand softly. She looked at my eyes and we both smiled.
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“We’re gonna be ok… I’ve got a plan.” I said just as headlights came into view.
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​
​
​
​

[dont read this part] My name is Renaes. It’s pronounced
[Reh-nay-es]
I woke up to the worlds most annoying alarm clock, screaming that annoying beep for about a minute. I decided to acknowledge it. I rolled over in bed and looked at the time; 7AM. I reached my arm out from under the covers and slapped the snooze button.
This was a normal routine for me every morning. Wake up hit the snooze button twice and groan out of bed. I lifted the covers up and sat hunched over in my bed. I put my hands to my face, feeling quite dead inside. I did my morning stretches and made my way upstairs. The stairs freaked as I walked up each one before my bare feet hit the dining room floor. I began to slowly make my way to the kitchen, grabbing a bowl and a spoon. I opened the fridge and grabbed some milk, pouring into the bowl almost halfway. People always make fun of me for this but I don’t really give a damn. I shut the fridge and grabbed the Lucky Charms box, filling the bowl up. I sat at the table and slowly ate my food, while scrolling through Reddit. I finished eating and put the bowl in the sink before heading back downstairs. I turned on the shower, and hopped in after undressing. The water was refreshing.I scrubbed away yesterday’s dust, I stepped out and wrapped the to around myself.
I don’t wanna go to work today, I groaned.
I made my way upstairs and changed into my work clothes. Bright reflective orange shirt, khaki carhartt work pants, and my favorite pair of cowboy work boots. I slid my cap on and grabbed my backpack, after shoving my lunchbox in it. I snatched the keys for my Silverado off the counter and headed outside.
The sun was still coming up and the air was cool. I hated summer. I liked the winter time. No bugs or anything that would kamikaze dice your eyeballs. To be honest, the worse the weather the happier I am! I started the engine and started Spotify on my phone. I put on my favorite playlist before pulling out of the driveway and heading down the gravel road to the highway.
I was so worried this morning. But I didn’t know why. I stopped at the stop sign and made a left. I headed to the gas station to talk to the cashier Megan. I always stopped by every morning. I walked in and walked past her.
“Good morning Reneas!” she said as i walked in.
“Good morning.” I said with no emotion. I grabbed the usual: a Nestle double chocolate milk and slice of fresh breakfast pizza. I pulled out my wallet as she was scanning the milk.
“Anything exciting happen at work yesterday?” she asked. “I found a cool rock” I said.
“Nice! You gotta show me them sometime” she stated with what seemed like fake amusement. I stuck my card into the chip reader. It flashed with the normal debit card options and I punched in my pin. I grabbed my stuff and headed out the door. “See ya tommorow!” She hollered as I headed out the door. “See ya!” I said back. I got in my truck and began the 10 minute drive to work.
I arrived in the gravel parking lot and exited my truck, making my way to the doors. An explosion of cool air conditioning hit me as I walked inside. I pulled out my company ID card and swiped it through the clock in machine. A pleasant beep chimes and ai turned to my right to enter the locker rooms. I walked over to my locker, opening it up. I grabbed my helmet, mine respirator, headlamp, and the walkie talkie off the charger. I shit the door and headed back to the break room. I set my gear on the table and plopped my backpack on the ground, pulling out the chocolate milk and slice of pizza. I began to eat as other guys started walking in doing the morning clock in procedure. Just as I finished eating, Tyler turned himself around to talk to me.
“Hey so yesterday I blew a hose in my excavator. I’m gonna need some hydraulic fluid. Mind getting me some?” he said.
“Yeah I got you,” I replied pulling out my tiny notepad, scribbling down his request. Our shift leader Mike walked in with his normal look. Sunglasses, bandana, yellow reflective shirt, and jeans.
“Alright y’all shut the hell up time for meeting.” he said. This was his language for ‘good morning’. He began passing out shift sheets telling people what sections needed drilled, scaled, and bolted. My name was always up top. A single word next to my name said “BIO”, meaning Bio Fuel. Nothing unusual. I was the underground fuel truck driver of the mind. I drive a 2007 Peterbilt 357 that has an extended frame with a giant fuel tank. trailing it was boxes and compartments full of supplies for other people and machines. The back side of it had hose reels for fuel, grease, hydraulic fluid, oil, and other fluids.
We finished up meeting and I got into my assigned pickup truck to take people to their machines. We headed out to the decline to enter the mine. It was a road on a 23% grade, heading down 250 ft. to the mine entrance through a big tunnel.
We drove down the tunnel. It was dark. Swallowed by blackness. The mine is about 32 miles all the way around. I dropped off James, Brett, and Lisa at their specified machines and I headed to the depot to retrieve my semi. I put the truck in park and hopped out. I grabbed my backpack and crossed the dirt path to the semi. I proceeded to complete my pre-shift, checking the tires, lights, brakes, and other important stuff requiring the truck to operate.
I signed the sheet, and opened the door to the cab. It squeaked as I opened the door pulling myself inside. I sat down on the air ride seat, dropping 2 inches. I set my clipboard on the passenger seat and turned the key. The truck grunted and rumbled to life with a mesmerizing roar. My truck had a CAT C10 engine in it, one of my favorites. I let the air build up before pushing in the parking brake. I pushed in the clutch and grabbed the shifter for the 13 speed transmission. I threw it into 1st gear, and let off the clutch. I took a left to get onto the main road. I shifted smoothly as I drove down the road. I approached section 38 and made a right. I spotted Allison in a scaler and made my way towards her. I blew the air horn to let her know I was there. She honked back to me, signaling I was good to back up to her. I reversed into the heading and stopped about 3 feet away from him. I pulled the park brake and hopped outside.
“What’s up idiot?” she yelled jokingly. “I don’t know. By the looks of it so far it’s your shitty heading.” I hollered back. I saw her laugh as I approached her. Allison was about a year younger than me but without a doubt I could see her beating the shit of anyone here. She’s what we call the she-redneck. Me and her kinda had a thing for each other but I never attempted to make on her. I grabbed the fuel hose and pulled it from the reel, handing it up to her.
“So… how’s it going?” she asked.
“Splendid.” I replied.
“Did you hear about Jeremy?”
“No, why?”
“Well apparently yesterday he got so freaked out he literally drove his haul truck up top and went home!” she said. “He said he’d seen a tall monster chasing his truck!”
I chuckled to myself a little. People around here, mainly haul truck drivers, will claim to see Native Americans standing in corners, freakish deer like creatures. One even said they saw a girl on a tricycle.
“Jeremy’s gettin old. He’s probably losing his mind!” I said slightly laughing.
“Yeah without a doubt!“
I opened my mouth to speak but just as I did, we heard the sound of crunching and rumbling. It stopped and it was quiet. Just the low idle of the truck provided sound for us. Then it hit us.
A huge gush of wind slammed us hard, followed by an insane amount of dust as it blew my over. I hit the ground on my ass and stumbled to my knees. I yelled to Allison.
“Hey are you ok up there?!” I yelled over the dust. No response.
“Yeah I’m fine! What the hell is happening?!” she shouted over the wind.
“A section of the mine must’ve collapsed! We’re gonna have to EVAC!” I yelled. “Shut off the fuel valve and hand it to me!”
She leaped overtime the hose and took it out, handing it to me. The dust was still flying everywhere. The collapse had to be very big. Allison jumped down from her scaler as I reeled in the hose.
“Get to the cab of the truck!” I yelled to her. She nodded her head and lifted her arms to her head, trying to see through the dust.
I managed to open the door and climbed inside slamming the door behind me. Allison was already inside, panting heavily.
“Oh my God. Oh my god oh my god!! It’s gotta be close to us!!” she yelled panicking.
“Hey hey hey, calm down. We’re inside the cab we’re fine right now. We gotta wait for this dust to settle then we’ll EVAC. I can already imagine Mike has called for one right now.” I grabbed my radio and called for Mike. “Hey Mike you got a copy?” I said. We waited for a response. 10 seconds… 20 seconds… then 30. Nothing. Not a peep from the radio.
We sat for a minute in the cab as the wind and dust settled.
“Maybe it collapsed right next to us.” Allison said, finally breaking the silence. “Imma go take a look. Wanna come?” she asked. “Sure.” I said. We both opened our doors and hopped down. We walked up to the opening of the heading and made a right. We walked about 40 feet before we saw it. The ceiling had collapsed right by us, blocking the main road. Our only exit.
“Son of a bitch.” I mumbled.
“What are we gonna do?” cried Allison. “That’s our only way out!”
“I’m thinking, I’m thinking. calm down we’re alright.” I reassured her. “Let’s head back to the truck maybe we can find an old cross cut that will get us out of here.”
I should make this clear real quickly. Cross cuts are basically roads that you follow in the mine. We walked back to the truck and I got inside as Allison went to grab her stuff in her scaler. She returned five minutes later and hopped back inside. I pushed in the parking brake and eased into first. The truck slowly made its way around the corner and I threw it into third. The engine echoed off the wall around us as we drove. Allison rolled her window down and stuck her hand out the window.
“It got really cold all of a sudden…” she murmured.
I rolled down my window and stuck my hand out. She was right. The temperature had definently dropped. The mine was almost always 56 degrees but now it felt like it was 40. “That’s weird.” I said. As we were driving things began to happen. My trucks engine brake would turn on , without me doing it. Lights would start to flicker.
“What the fuck…” I said as I pressed buttons. I slowed the truck to a stop and let it idle.
“What’s wrong with the semi?” Allison asked.
“I’m not for sure. Maybe the dust got in the electrical system or something.”
Allison raised her head up. “Taillights!” she said with joy. I looked out the windshield and sure enough, she was right. I grabbed the radio and called out to whoever was in front of us.
“Hey who’s in front of me right now?” I called. No response. I pressed the talk button again. “This is Renaes in the fuel truck. I’m on…” I looked at the pillar spray painted with the number on it. “…crosscut 10. Who’s in front of me?” Still, no response came. We looked at the lights. Then they…. wait no that impossible. Did they just blink?
“You saw that too, right? Or am I going crazy?” Allison said.
“No I saw it too.” I replied. The lights linked again then they just simply, turned away.
“We don’t get paid enough for this shit.” Allison snorted.
I drove forward slowly finally reaching the spot we saw the lights. “You see anything?” I asked. Allison stuck her head out the window turning on her headlamp.
“Nope.”
A loud roar rang out around the area.
“Oh my god what was that?!?” Lisa cried, frantically rolling up her window. “Something’s down here!!”
“Chill out maybe another part collapsed.”
It then got louder again. A huge roar that had an elk whine or something to it. I started getting antsy. “Ok that ain’t no coyote or anything.” I put the truck in reverse and began backing up. I looked up at the reverse monitor and got a giant cold rush through my body.
A tall creature was standing right behind the truck. It had dark fur, but parts of it were missing, revealing exposed tissues, bones and organs. The head was some kind of deer skull. My mind instantly shouted at me.
Wendigo.
A god damn wendigo.
I shut down. Allison looked up at the monitor and screamed. “OH MY GOD WHAT IS THAT?!?!”
“Lock your door! NOW!” I yelled. I threw the truck into first and slammed on the gas. We began tearing down the road. Well… somewhat. The truck is governed to 35 miles per hour and the beast was still on our tail. It ran on all fours, vapors pouring out of its nostrils. I made a left at a random cross cut and slammed the gas.
“LOOK OUT!!” Allison yelled.
I looked forward to see the beast in front of us. How the hell did it get in front of us? I put the brake pedal to the floor as we skidded to a stop.
“BACK UP! BACK UP!!” She screamed. I began backing up as fast as I could but there was an issue. The truck died. I frantically reached down and turned the key. The truck struggled to start.
Come on come on come on come on! Don’t fail me now! I screamed in my head. There was a loud shatter of glass and I raised my hand as glass flew everywhere. Allison screamed. A rock the size of my head laid between us.
I looked up to see The monster charging for us. I turned the key once more and the truck started.
“Fuck it!” I screamed and slammed the truck into first.
The truck pounced forward and we hit the beast, throwing us up in our seats. I floored the truck as we drove.
I was bleeding from the glass on my face and realized a piece of it was stuck in my head. “Allison pull this shit out of my head.” I said, sounding pissed. She reached over and grabbed the piece, pulling it out.
“W-w-what is that thing?!” she cried. I’m from a heavy Native American bloodline and I began telling her the story my grandma told me many years ago.
Just as it seemed we were safe, My door made a loud crack. I turned my head to see what it was and the second I did, the door was ripped off its hinges. The next thing I knew was that I was tumbling over in the ground, watching the truck roll forward. I rolled probably 20 feet before laying on my side. The loud jake brake kicked on and the truck began to slow down. I could barley see. I scrambled to my feet, reaching up to turn on my headlamp. I felt nothing on top of my head. My helmet must’ve came off when I was pulled from the truck. I stood up but the second I did, I felt a giant hand on my back. The wendigo had grabbed me. I was picked up and thrown like a toy that a toddler didn’t want to play with anymore. I flew through the air, head spinning. I hit the side of a wall with a thud. I heard something crack and I fell face first on the dirt. I rolled over, thinking to myself. Is this where I’m gonna die? The wendigo began to approach me. It snarled loudly and kept forward. CRACK! Allison came up to it with a roof bolt and smacked it on the head. It howled in pain as it began rubbing its snout. Roof bolts weigh almost 20 pounds. They are almost 6 feet long, so they can deal some damage. I forgot I kept them on the back of the truck. Allison dropped the bolt and came to my side, lifting me up. Damn she is strong.
“Come on!” Allison yelled. “Get up!”
I was pulled to my feet and began trying to run to the truck. Allison was about 5 feet in front of me, as I slowly trailed behind her. I was limping on my left foot as I ran. I must’ve screwed up my foot when I hit the wall. I made it to the cab and put my foot down on the first step.
Thwump. I felt something in my leg. At first I thought it was something from the cab but then It burned. Bad. I looked down at my leg. There, sticking through my right leg, was the roof bolt. Allison moved over to drivers side and stared down at me before letting out a shriek. I looked up at her and blankly told her, “Get out of here. Now.”
“No! I’m not leaving you! Come on! Please Renais!”
“GO!” I shouted.
She hastily began to get in the seat. “Try and find a way to the depot!” I yelled. She nodded her head as she wiped tears from her head.
“Give me your helmet!”
Allison swiftly took hers off and threw it to me. She began to drive away slowly.
I turned and looked around as the headlamp through the darkness. I looked at my leg and grabbed the bolt. Slowly, I began trying to pull it out, yelling out as I pulled it through my leg inch by inch. With one final grab, I pulled it through, blood coming out of my leg. I grabbed a small roll of duct tape I carry in my pocket and began wrapping the wound. I put the tape back in my pocket and looked around, bolt in hand now.
“Where are you at?!” I shouted. “Get out here now!”
“Renais!” I heard Allison call out from my left. I turned immediately and began trying to find her.
“W-where are you? Where’s the truck?!” I shouted.
“Help me please I’m over here!” I heard her cry from behind the pillar. I limped my way over to the pillar and found the corner.
She wasn’t there. I stopped in my tracks. “Oh shit…” I mumbled. Just then J was knocked to my face. I turned over to my side to see the wendigo staring at me. It looked over me, those red eyes staring into my soul. I got to my feet and held the bolt in my hands.
“Alright. Let’s tango.” I grunted. I charged over to the wendigo with bolt and swing with all my might. The beast easily dodged my attack and turned to claw me. I ducked as I felt the wind of the hand as it passed over my head. I swung the bolt right into the beasts snout and it cried out. I raised the bolt over my shoulder again and began beating the monster over and over as it tried to recover. After about 4 hits to the beast it raised its hand up and grabbed the bolt mid air. It stood on its hind legs and ripped the bolt out of my hands throwing it over a berm. I wasn’t giving up easy. I charged at it full throttle and toppled over it, sending us both flying to ground. I began punching it’s chest, but I could see it had no effect on the beast. It grabbed my side and threw me almost 30 feet onto the ground. Just as I was standing up, I felt it grab my legs and it raised me in the air string at me. It then spoke. “You’re a daring one.” It said in a low menacing voice. “What compels you to think you can just take over my kingdom?”
“I-I didn’t know it was yours.” I sputtered. “I’m just here to do my job-“
It cut me off.
“I will propose you a deal,” it boomed.
The wendigo stared at me. Steam pouring from its nostrils. It spoke.
“Release me from my prison. I wish to be outdoors where I deserve to roam. The others have kept me here.” it spoke.
“O-others? There’s more than one of you?”
“There are many of us here. They prefer to hide in the deeper parts of this cave. They won’t let me leave but I decide my own path now.”
“So what do you w-want from me?” I coughed.
“Do you have a way to get me out of here? Perhaps I could ride in one of those massive machines with boxes on them” it said.
“Those are called haul trucks,” I remarked. “And no, because they dump rocks into a big crusher. They never go up top.”
We stared at each other.
“Perhaps I could hide in a small…haul truck that I see others drive.”
My thoughts began racing. This wendigo was just a foot taller than me, so maybe he could curl up in a ball and I could cover him in a tarp. But it made no sense. How would I get him out without others noticing? Surely I didn’t want to let him out to kill others.
“Won’t you just kill others once release in the daylight?” I spat.
“If I’m provoked to the point, maybe. Why do you think I’m letting you live still?” it said.
It had a point. Truly this thing was now counting on me, despite almost leaving me dead right now. I took in a deep breath.
“I can get you out, but it won’t be for a bit. You’ve done some narly damage to me,” I winced.
The wendigo tilted its head. “How long?” it asked, sounding annoyed.
“I don’t know maybe a month or two? You fucked up my leg man. There’s a hole the size of a quarter in it!” I spat back. The wendigo stared.
“I will allow this deal, but if you break this promise I will rip your spine from your back and flay your skin. I’ve seen you many times. I know where you are.” it said.
I shuddered. “Ok. Done deal. Take me to my truck and bring back Allison now!” I said.
The wendigo nodded, and picked me up in one hand carrying me over to the truck which was smoking. I didn’t see Allison anywhere. The wendigo set me up against the cab.
“I will return shortly with your companion. “ it said.
“Her name is Allison.” I told it.
“Ok…. I will return with Allison shortly.” The wendigo turned and bolted into the mine. Minutes later it came soaring into view, Allison over its shoulder setting her down beside me.
“I saw a small haul truck approac-“
“Just call it a pickup dude.” I said cutting it off. It stared me down shortly then continued.
“I saw a pickup truck approaching on my way back. I will return to hiding. Remember our deal. I’ll be watching for your return.” it said before sprinting into the darkness. Allison coughed as she continued sobbing.
“Did it hurt you Allison?” I asked.
“No…” she whimpered. “When I was driving it got in the way and I crashed into it….” She looked at my leg, which was covered in blood and dust. I don’t know what compelled me to do it, but I reached over and grabbed her hand softly. She looked at my eyes and we both smiled.
“We’re gonna be ok… I’ve got a plan.” I said just as headlights came into view.

Might delete later who knows but TVD is my favorite drunk show lmao. Here are my most unhinged thoughts

• does anyone else kinda ship Matt/Elena? 😂😂 not actually but some of their scenes warm my heart, especially when he’s trying to comfort her about the Stefan break up
  
• I lowkey love Tyler’s mom. And their relationship. It’s actually quite sweet and something about the way Tyler interacts with his mom makes him so attractive to me
  
• masquerade is SUCH a good episode. Top tier, I can’t believe the show used to be this good. I’m preemptively angry at how awful the show will become in the next few seasons
  
• I do not understand how people thought Ian was the more attractive brother. I love him don’t get me wrong but god Paul is my everything 😭 he’s as perfect as a human comes, I can’t stop drooling over his fine green-eyes ass 😭😭😭
  
• Steven McQueen’s acting sucks and I love clowning on Jeremy but I DUNNO YOU GUYS he’s kinda growing on me this rewatch 😂 he’s the best when he’s defying Elena because he’s actually right. He’s trying to actually take control of his destiny and the agency Elena keeps trying to take away from him. I also dig him and Bon Bon
  
• speaking of Bonnie, the Bamon chemistry is great is S2. I know they try to portray Elena and Damon as enemies to lovers but Bamon fits the bill WAY better. I wish I could have seen them as a proper end game
  
• I know I’m not supposed to root for them but the Stefan/Katherine chemistry is OFF THE CHARTS 🔥 how do people not realize how mother effigy f sexy Stefan is, he’s literally got the best sexy romantic chemistry with EVERYONE (drool)
  
• I love when the Salvatores team up. But stay off Stefan’s girl, Damon
  
• these masks during the masquerade are all so awful where were you at costume department 😭
  
• okay I’m sorry Jeremy standing up to Katherine is HOT you guys, I might be forming a soft spot for him
  
• Katherine is sex on a stick. Holy shit
  
• Elena had to wear that damn lilac shirt for like a million episodes 😂 poor Nina. I hope they had multiples at least lol
  
• I feel like half the reason the acting was better in these seasons is because the directors were better. They brought out the best in this cast
  
• Elena’s makeup is SLAAAAAAYINNGGGG this season. Can someone please get Kat Graham some better styling though. She’s an objective 10/10 but they keep doing f her dirty in that department and it’s pissing me off
  
• how did none of those wounds kill Elena when she was linked to Katherine lol
  
• thinking about to the S1 finale, Stefan literally saved Damon’s life and Damon immediately went to go kiss Elena my god he’s so selfish lmao. I’ll never understand Delena end game
  
• “let’s all make sure POOR ELENA is okay” i love when Katherine reads her to filth lol
  
• omg Katherine’s heels are awful this episode lol
  
• okay but can Jeremy step up and start acting like a protective brother rather than letting Elena walk around “protecting” him they’re only a year apart man, cmon step up Jer
  
• bruh Matt can you stop rubbing in so hard that Caroline is your second choice 😭😭 given that, it’s cruel to pair her with Stefan at the end and make her his second choice too. I can’t wait Forwood to start. I love that Tyler never simped for Elena
  
• although, I wish we got more Tyleelena scenes, Ngl
  
• how is everyone on this show so damn hot
  

MORE TO COME

Mr. and Mrs. Tunell were old, losing their memories, but in otherwise good shape—if you could call taking the shape of certain objects to be in shape. Mr. Tunell was short, thin, and had a pronounced hunch on his back, making him look a lot like a question mark. Mrs. Tunell, almost the opposite in appearance, was tall, fat, and shaped like an egg.
The Tunells had lived on their farm since—well, they couldn’t remember when—but it was around the same time that their adult daughter, Alma, was born.
The sun outside this particular early Friday morning was already beginning to beat on the warm, damp earth. The Tunells hadn’t worked on that farm in years, hence the reason they were still in their kitchen. They weren’t poor, by any means. They had two farmhands to keep the farm running. Of course, the farm, being as big as it was, really needed three people to operate it, which was why the Tunells had finally applied to adopt a young boy to help them.
Their own daughter (it was a few years ago now) had decided that life on her parents’ farm had become too grueling for her, and she had left and got married to Harvey Simmerson, a boy from the neighboring city, when they were eighteen years old. Alma told her parents, as she sprinted out the front door, suitcase in hand, that she wanted to make a fresh start.
“Fresh?” Mr. Tunell still gripes from time to time. “What does that even mean, ‘fresh’? Dang youngsters, always making up silly words to explain away good, solid work!”
Right now, Mr. and Mrs. Tunell were growing rather restless inside their kitchen, unsure what to do with themselves, half wondering why they were standing at the kitchen counter at all. Mr. Tunell wore a wrinkled white dress shirt, a frayed black tie, and tan corduroy slacks, long since out of date. His wife had on a washed-out red dress with bleeding white flowers. Their initial plan was to wait there for the ten-year-old boy to arrive. Before each of them, on their white marble countertop, was the beginnings of two lists—“What The Boy Can Do On The Farm And When”—otherwise blank at the moment.
“Perhaps we should, uh, go out for the day?” said Mrs. Tunell tentatively, getting anxious standing there, having forgotten about her list again. A rare thing for them: going out. Her husband began to drum his gnarled fingers on top of the countertop, looking up and to the left, irresolute on the idea of going out. “They’ll drop the child off on the porch sometime today, no doubt?” she continued, suddenly remembering. “It is today, isn’t it? It’s why we’re standing here, right?” Mr. Tunell grunted. He walked around to check the clock on the end of the kitchen’s low hanging wall, as though it might not only tell him the time of the day but their reason for being there, as well. The black-and-white clock ticked its thin, long secondhand slowly, dully, from the “4” to the “5” as he watched. He blinked. He moved back around to stand in front of his list and shook his head at it.
“No, I don’t think we can leave,” said Mrs. Tunell, answering herself. “I think they said we’ll have to sign for him or something,” she added. She snatched glances at the television set, which was in the adjoining room, their living room. She licked her lips. The television was black and blank, darkly reflecting the blue-and-white curtains covering the window on the opposite wall. She was missing one of her favorite television shows and for what! She glanced down at her list momentarily, trying to remember again. “Ah,” she sighed, reading the heading. “How long do you think it will take for him to do the jobs of the two we hired, dear?” She looked sideways at her husband. Her eyes were already beginning to glaze over. She glanced down at her list, once more. “After all, he is a…a boy.
“And after everything we’d done for her, too,” she said, out of nowhere, recalling her daughter’s quick departure, as her rolling eyes landed on the front door. Mrs. Tunell ruined the effect of outrage by the quizzical look she wore on her face when she looked away from the front door and at her husband. Her face changed. She wore a hangdog expression presently as her eyes moved about the kitchen’s interior, wondering how she had gotten there. As though trying to remember, she wiped bewilderedly at a nonexistent tear under her left eye. She rubbed the “tear” off on her dress. She cleared her throat.
“If the boy’s from good stock,” said her husband, “I think it will take a couple of years, I-I suppose, for him to take over the two, um, grown men’s work, in addition to his own.” Try as he might, he clearly doubted his own statement. Mr. Tunell would sometimes talk about people this way, coming “from good stock,” as though they were animals and not humans. He said all this to appease his wife. When she got too worked up, she would faint.
His wife took a few, measured breaths; Mr. Tunell shrugged his curved shoulders, when next she looked at him.
After rereading the headings on their lists (they had been through this about a dozen times over the last half hour), the Tunells finally began to jot things down.

1. Feed the animals: ten years old
   
2. Weed the fields: ten years old
   
3. Barrel the hay: ten years old
   
4. Plow the fields: ten years old
   

Then…

1. Run the farm: ten years old

…added Mrs. Tunell, hopefully.
Some time later, there came a knock at the front door.
Mr. Tunell walked—it was more like a scuttle, really—around the counter and toward the front door. He opened the door.
A priest stood in the doorway. He had on the traditional black dress pants and black, long-sleeved dress shirt and white, tab collar. He also held a large, faded brown Bible, with hundreds of little, colored tabs sticking out its paged side. The priest held the Bible in both hands, close to his chest. Sweating profusely, the priest unclasped his right hand from the Bible momentarily to give a jaunty wave of hello to Mr. Tunell and then began to speak as soon as his hand touched the Bible again; he acted as though he knew his time on that doorstep was limited, yet the speech must be given. He spoke quickly and firmly, and, somehow, managed to add a tone of someone counseling their dearest friend: something between a berating and forgiveness, for having had to come out so far to do so.
“I’ve talked to your neighbors. I have visited Mr. Arncaster, the Greenes, the Howlanders, the Smiths and Tegartens, Jeremy and May Belvedere. And now it’s time I talk to you, face-to-face.” He took a deep breath, as though he were about to say something deeply concerning. “Is your wife home? She’s gonna wanna hear this.”
“Gosh it’s hot!” said the priest, when Mr. Tunell said nothing in reply. He lifted an arm to wipe the streaming beads of sweat from rolling into his eyes. He coughed once into the silence. He swallowed. “You wouldn’t happen to have a glass of water, would you?” He smiled. He made to enter the house to get it himself, perhaps forgetting that he and Mr. Tunell were not, in fact, old friends, but Mr. Tunell didn’t move out of the way, and so the man stopped. “Ahem.” He cleared his dry throat.
Mr. Tunell stared at him.
“What do you believe—?” continued the man hurriedly.
Mr. Tunell cut him short with a quick wave of his hand. His gesture was similar to one waving goodbye to someone. He didn’t move, however, to close the door. He let his hand fall to his side.
The priest’s mouth fell open.
“My wife and I believe in…” Mr. Tunell went on, but he couldn’t think. “The television,” he said finally, and he looked back at it for a moment. He didn’t know what he was saying, yet he remembered he liked the television.
The priest’s eyes widened. He began to back away slowly. “Well…” he said. He crossed himself. He tripped down the porch steps and speedily picked himself up.
Mr. Tunell narrowed his eyes. The priest crossed the house, next.
Mr. Tunell looked around dazedly and eventually shut the door. He returned back to where his wife was, in the kitchen.
Half an hour later, the Tunells heard another noise outside their front door. Then something crashed into it, followed by a very loud scraping noise. Was the priest exorcising the house? No, it must be a scuffle going on outside. Was the priest now fighting a demon? Perhaps, it was more reasonable to assume it was their two farmhands, but what they were doing brawling on the front porch, the Tunells couldn’t imagine.
“It’s okay,” Mrs. Tunell reassured her husband. “Go ahead and get the door, Ziggy,” she went on, peering down at her list again, having squinted up at the door briefly, as though able to see through it and deemed it was safe.
Mr. Tunell grunted, threw his pen down, and ambled ungainly back toward the door. He felt uneasy about answering it.
Upon opening the front door this time, Mr. Tunell didn’t see their two farmhands or the priest. In fact, he didn’t see anybody at all! Maybe it was demons, he thought, thinking they would be invisible. But when he looked down, as something very solid smashed into his shins, making him jerk forward and brace himself on the door’s frame, he saw three little men wrestling with each other.
What an odd place to hold a wrestling match, Mr. Tunell thought, rather reasonably it should be noted.
The three little men hadn’t yet noticed the open front door or the very bemused man staring down at them.
When the little men finally realized he was watching them, they released each other and stood up abruptly. Mr. Tunell flinched, thinking they might attack him next. However, the three men brushed the dirt off their overly large clothes, looking happy as clams, without an ounce of anger. These men were very short, only about three feet tall, once they stood up straight. Mr. Tunell saw, when the men smiled impishly up at him, that they had childlike features. He was confused.
The one directly before him had pale green eyes. Mr. Tunell stared into them. It was odd looking into the eyes of a cat. He looked away and his eyes fell onto the men’s clothes. He blinked again, wondering if they had thrown on clothes from some adult store and then wrestled their whole way there. Their mismatching clothes were punctuated by the wooly green caps drawn down over their ears.
The one on Mr. Tunell’s left (the third was in the back, standing eagerly behind his friends) began to speak in a squeaky voice. It sounded like fingernails sliding down a chalkboard.
“We wonduh’d of we coo have a momen’ uv yer time,” Mr. Tunell managed to make out.[Mc1]
What kind of strange religion is it this time? he wondered.
“Weh too early, Clove, I tol’ ya. Di’n’ ya har me when I said it,” the one directly in front of Mr. Tunell said. The little man had spun around to face his companion when he said it. Sounding annoyed, he continued, “Weh shoulda star—”
“Hew are ye ta inttarup meh, eh?” the first one shouted, also turning to look him full in the face.
The little man in the back watched the exchange along with Mr. Tunell, both of whom were getting quite jumpy, Mr. Tunell scared and the little man excited.
“What’d ya say to meh, young man?” cried the second one, yelling directly into the other’s face. There was about an inch between their two thin noses, and both were clearly prepared to close that small gap.
Mr. Tunell was lost. Did he call the other “young”? All three of the men appeared to be the exact same age, to him, whatever that age was supposed to be.
Mr. Tunell saw the first one put the other in a headlock and the third jumping on top of the two of them.
Irritated at being ignored again, Mr. Tunell growled, “We don’t want any!” at the falling bundle.
The three men hit the porch with a soft—because of all the clothes—thump. They stopped wrestling long enough to gaze up and see Mr. Tunell push himself off the frame of the door, step back, reach for the door handle, and slam the door shut. Mr. Tunell rejoined his wife at the kitchen counter, angrily picked up his blank list and—
“Who were they, Ziggy?” said his wife. “I didn’t see anyone, but with such a racket, I almost called the police! Those voices. I had to stick a finger in my ear to try and remember where the phone was!” Mr. Tunell, not quite knowing how to answer her, gave her his third grunt that morning.
Moments later, another knock came at the door.
“I see,” said his wife suspiciously, as though Mr. Tunell was being visited by another woman.
Mr. Tunell ground his teeth together so hard it made a sort of crunching noise in his mouth. Then he said, “I’ll get it. Stupid, uh, solicitors,” not knowing exactly what those little men were there for.
He threw his list down on the kitchen counter and stomped toward the door. Flinging the door open this time, banging it off the back wall, and making a knob-sized hole in the plaster, he bellowed, “What d’ya want for Pete’s sake!”
Instead of screaming into the faces of the three short men, it was into the small, pink, and pudgy face of a newborn girl. The girl had soft blue eyes and thin, white hair. The girl was being held very delicately in the arms of a young social worker dressed in blue scrubs.
The social worker, a man with skin the color of skim milk and with short, orange hair, tilted his head back at the hostility. The man had an upright nose, and Mr. Tunell could see right up his nostrils. The social worker leaned even further back so that he could check the numbers on the front of the house, to the right of the door. Adjusting the girl in his arms carefully, he felt around in the left-hand pocket of his pants and pulled out a small business card. This card clearly had the address on it. The young man peered at the card closely, bringing it right up against his nose, as if he wanted to make sure it was correct.
He sighed. The numbers on the card matched the house, it seemed. He lowered his hand and stood up straight, then he put the card back into his pocket. He shifted the baby back into his arms. He put on a false smile and walked straight into the house. Mr. Tunell high-stepped it out of his way. Before closing the door, Mr. Tunell stuck his head out the door, searching both ways and then out toward the driveway. Once it was clear no one else was coming, he shut the door.
His wife walked from within the kitchen to stand a little way in front of the social worker. She cleared her throat as she gave her husband, who was standing behind the man, a quick look. Mr. Tunell shrugged.
“I’m sorry,” she barked at the intruder. She put her hands stiffly on her hips. “I most certainly do not understand!” She looked at the baby. “We are supposed to be receiving a ten-year-old boy! We were very specific. He needs to be young…” But her voice trailed off. She couldn’t remember the rest of the details.
“Yes,” agreed the social worker. “I noticed that on your paperwork. Very specific. I thought it must be a mistake. Your granddaughter, you see, was orphaned on the same day as the request for your adoption.”
The room seemed to grow a shade darker, even the silence that befell the small scene seemed quieter.
Did that mean their daughter was dead?
“H-how?” stammered Mrs. Tunell.
The social worker didn’t know what to say or do. They clearly hadn’t known about their daughter. He rested his eyes on the baby. He began to rock it back and forth. The baby yawned.
Finally answering the woman’s questions, he looked up and spoke softly; it were as though he knew the baby would understand him.
“What happened to your daughter is a mystery. To her husband, as well, of course. To put it plainly, they went missing. But it’s not so plain to the police.”
“Oh,” she said, her right hand going up to cover her mouth in shock, getting there late as always. “Missing…yes, I see…something’s missing, I see now…”
“I’m sorry?” said the social worker. He wasn’t sure he had heard her correctly as she had spoken even softer than he had, and with her hand over her mouth.
The social worker had a schedule to keep. He still had seven other children crammed into the back of his car to get rid of, he joked. He decided it was time to hand the girl over to Mrs. Tunell. It took a while for Mrs. Tunell to realize what he was trying to do. She had backed away thinking he needed to get by. But when he kept coming at her, she finally lowered her hand from her mouth and outstretched it and the other, so that her arms looked like a shelf.
“Um…right,” said the social worker, laying the baby across her stiff forearms. When he was certain the baby wouldn’t fall, he retreated back where he was standing.
Mr. Tunell strolled over to stand by his wife, Portia, who was holding the eight-month-old even more awkwardly than before, under the crook of one arm. The social worker was some six feet away. Mr. Tunell situated himself so that he was blocking the baby from the social worker’s view.
“I can’t say,” he whispered to his wife, as though she had just asked him a question.
Mr. Tunell bent his head close to his granddaughter to inspect her. The girl giggled when her eyes fell upon him. He raised his long, stringy eyebrows. He craned his neck upward to look at his wife.
“Hm,” murmured his wife. She adjusted the girl in her arms again, so that she was now cradling the girl appropriately.
“I guess she’ll do, huh?” Mr. Tunell said, in the tone of one appraising a plow horse at a market. “It’s not like we’ll get another one, huh?” He chuckled.
His wife shot him a severe look that landed on his head. It was obvious to her at the moment that they would definitely not be getting another one. She peered over her husband and smiled at the social worker, an ragged, crooked-tooth smile.
Mr. Tunell jumped as if he had been electrocuted.
“Wh-what’s wrong with her hair?” he screamed, startling everyone, including the baby, who gave a spurt of a sound. Mr. Tunell was pointing down at the baby accusingly. He turned his head to look at the social worker and said, “Why, her hair, it’s…it’s white!” He glanced at the baby again.
How old is this baby? he thought stupidly.
Having made his point, he began to lower his hand. As he did so, he was careful not to touch the baby, in case she might be carrying something contagious.
“Yes, well, I suppose it is a curious thing, isn’t it?” said the social worker. He sidled to his right, so that he could get the child into view again. “I’m sure you’ll make sure none of the other children make fun of her hair.”
“You don’t think they left her because of it, do you?” said Mrs. Tunell. “Because of her white hair? You don’t think they went ‘missing’ because they were scared of her, do you?”
“What? No,” said the social worker earnestly, trying to allay whatever suspicion she might have. “The circumstances of your daughter’s and her husband’s disappearances…well, they were…they were odd.
“To be honest, the girl, Maggie”—he nodded upward briefly, pointing at the girl with his chin—“was found by a stranger who just happened to be walking in the woods that night. When they searched their house later on, after the police found out who the girl belonged to, it was clear something had happened there. Maybe there was a struggle. Maybe they simply needed to make a quick escape. Who knows? But things were strewn about the house.” He continued, now as if reading from the official report, “The investigation states that the parents had probably fled with the child in the middle of the night and had placed her in the nook of a tree to keep her hidden until they could return. It is believed that someone had been after the parents.” A pause. After a moment, he spoke again, more leisurely this time, as if he had finished reading, “That’s as much as I know, I’m afraid. The trail, so to speak, went cold after that. The parents, although searched for, have yet to be found. As for the supposed pursuer?” He shook his head. “There were no witnesses and with everything thrown around the house it couldn’t be verified that anyone else was there.”
Mrs. Tunell closed her jaw, which had been hanging open, with a snap. She attempted to dab at her eyes again, as real tears escaped them, but the baby in her arms prevented it. She took Maggie into the depths of the kitchen and out of sight. There was a distant, metallic thunk as Maggie could be heard being put down in the sink. The men heard the rip of paper towels being pulled roughly from a roll, a clatter as the holster fell and clattered to the floor—and Mrs. Tunell bursting out of the kitchen, tears down her cheeks, a stream of paper towels in one hand, shouting madly, “The boy we were supposed to be getting was named Tripp! Not Terp!” before waddling back into the kitchen.
It was a full minute before the social worker moved.
The social worker, minding his job, walked out to his car and came back in with the paperwork. He tapped Mr. Tunell on the shoulder to get his attention. He instructed Mr. Tunell where to sign.
Parting a window curtain, Mr. Tunell watched like a dog would its own as the social worker got back into his car, circled around in the grass, and drove off down the dirt driveway, kicking up two joining clouds of gray dust as he went.
Mr. Tunell let the curtain fall. He turned around and walked toward the living room to watch television…when he spotted Maggie sitting on the couch. He stopped. His wife must have placed her there while his back was turned. Portia was once more back inside the kitchen, and, from the sound of it, she was cleaning out the kitchen sink.
Bizarre, thought Mr. Tunell of his wife, this cleaning-thing. It were as though it was some new-aged method of catharsis a television-personality who claimed to be a doctor had prescribed to his audience.
Mr. Tunell walked to where his granddaughter was sitting, in her pink onesie, on the worn, gray couch. However, as he drew closer, he saw that Maggie wasn’t sitting on the couch as he supposed. She was floating above it!
“What the…?”
He stumbled backward.
He didn’t know what to do. He looked around the living room frantically. Luckily, his eyes fell on a pair of dusty, large phonebooks on their otherwise lone bookshelf. He grabbed them and put them on Maggie’s lap, securing her firmly to the couch.
“That’s better,” he said to himself, swiping his hands against each other. He sneezed.
Maggie’s eyes began to well up, but not because of the dust. It turned out, she rather liked floating above the couch and was keen to continue doing so. She banged her tiny fists into the cushion, determined to push herself off again. When that didn’t work, she bawled, making the noisiest racket Mr. Tunell had ever remembered hearing. Mr. Tunell looked on anxiously: Where was all this noise coming from? It was such a small girl!
Mr. Tunell had to sit down. Maggie continued to yell at the top of her lungs. It was a wonder his didn’t come flying out of the kitchen again and start hollering at him, too. Mr. Tunell sat, two feet away, in his favorite armchair. He slowly swiveled it around to face her, careful not to make any sudden movements. He tried clearing his throat, but the girl just kept on screaming and screaming! So, Mr. Tunell did the only thing he could think of to do: talk to her.
“He-ey there,” he said, attempting to sound kind and leaning forward to pat one of Maggie’s tiny knees. However, her knees were hidden under the phonebooks, so he shook her foot instead. “It’s alright,” he went on, leaning back to rest against the back of the tan recliner. His back fit the round indent of the old, threadbare chair perfectly. He laughed for no apparent reason. “Did you think he was coming back?” He pointed with his left thumb at the door to indicate the social worker. “You’re in safe hands now.” He laughed even louder after that.
Mr. Tunell somehow got his wish, because Maggie stopped crying. Instead, she stared at him with those sky blue eyes with what appeared to be her full attention, the last of her small tears rolling down her red cheeks. For some reason though, this sudden change of behavior unnerved Mr. Tunell even more.
“You’re a weird one, aren’t you?” he said, leveling his eyes at her. Then, thinking he might upset her again, he added hastily, “What I mean to say is the uh, the…uh…” Maggie kept his gaze. “You know what”—Mr. Tunell switched tactics quickly—“your mother never cried at that age.” He thought about that for a second. “Not that I can remember, anyway.” He shrugged, when he realized it didn’t really matter either way to him at the moment if his daughter had cried at that age. He smiled.
Mr. Tunell hadn’t spoken to a child in ages and it was beginning to make him feel uncomfortable. He never did like children very much, even when he was a child himself.
Maggie had begun to chew the ends of her small fingers, as though on tenterhooks, waiting for her grandfather’s next words. Mr. Tunell’s grin broadened and he stuck out his chest proudly, which, admittedly, took quite a bit of effort.
“You know,” he said, “my father gave me a talking-to when I was a young man. I might have been a little older than you are now, but since your parents ran into the woods… I mean to say…” A moment went by as he imagined Maggie growing up in the woods all alone as a sort of wolf-child. “It’s never too early to know your place!”
Mr. Tunell wasn’t sure the child understood a single thing he just said. Reflecting back on it, he wasn’t sure he understood it either. To add to that, he couldn’t remember what his father had told him all those long years ago.
Maggie, he saw, was now reaching out for him, opening and closing her hands, as if wanting to be picked up. Mr. Tunell thought he could see straight through her: She wanted to be out from under the phonebooks so she could float around the house. Well, he wasn’t having any of that!
“Look!” he nearly shouted, pointing at her. He shouldn’t have done that. He coughed into a spotted hand, took a deep, rattling breath to compose himself, and went on more calmly, “This is how things are going to play out, okay? You do what you’re told, and you’ll have an easy…easy enough…life, okay?” Maggie put her hands down by her sides. Mr. Tunell attempted another smile, but the effect was more comical than anything else, because his mind was on all the hard work he was planning for her to do. “We’re not gonna have any of this flying around the house, you understand me? It’s not right.” He glanced up at the girl’s white hair and pointed at it again. “You’re gonna have enough attention with that. Trust me.” He swallowed, dropping his shaking hand to rest on his right knee.
Maggie reached up slowly with one hand and patted her white head childishly.
Mr. Tunell started to knuckle one of Maggie’s knees softly, something he was sure his father had done with him when his speech was over. He lowered his hand when he saw the phonebooks again; Maggie lowered her hand at the same time. She cooed as though now wanting, but unable, to say something in return to her grandfather.
“DON’T GO GETTING TOO ATTACHED TO THE GIRL, ZIGGY!” yelled maniacally, still from within the confines of the kitchen, making him and the girl jerk violently. “And we’ll have to redo our lists!” she said, a little less loudly.
He turned to gaze in the direction of the kitchen. When swiveled back around to face Maggie, he noticed she was gone.
Where she once sat there were only the two phonebooks, one partway stacked on top of the other, on top of the couch. It were as though she had melted into the couch.
Mr. Tunell looked around the room, then up at the ceiling. But he couldn’t find her anywhere.
Not knowing what else to do, he turned his head around and said to his wife, “I’ll try not to!”
He took one more look at where his granddaughter had been sitting—to see her sitting on top of the phonebooks. Maggie giggled. Mr. Tunell glared at her. “You think that’s funny, do you?” he grumbled. “You little…”
He stood up. He decided to go outside and check on his workers before he did anything stupid. It was only after he had begun to open the front door that he recalled the three short men from earlier. He peered through the crack between the door and the jamb—
He hurriedly shut the door!
“What was that?” said his wife harshly, coming from around the kitchen wall this time to see what all the noise was about. “I can’t leave you a moment without—?”
“It’s nothing,” he argued. “Just the door acting funny.”
He jiggled the handle, turning the knob a half a dozen times this way and that as though checking to see if it might need oil. He did this until his wife withdrew back into the kitchen.
The three little men were back on the porch. And this time they weren’t wrestling with each other but waiting shoulder-to-shoulder, with their caps in their hands, as patiently as saints.
He hadn’t heard a knock, but with the girl crying…
Mr. Tunell straightened up as much as his crooked back would allow him to and shook his limbs free of any hesitation they might still have; anyone watching would think he was getting ready to run a long race and not simply open a front door.
Thoughts like “IRS” began to swim crazily through his mind.
“That was years ago,” he said to himself, “and they’re not going to send three shrimps like that to shake me down.” Still, the thought irked him.
With his hand back on the doorknob, he took a deep breath. He turned the handle and jerked the door open wide for a second time that morning, stopping just shy of the wall. He was ready for—
But no one standing there…
Looking around, it took him a moment to realize the men hadn’t disappeared like the girl, but were riding what looked like giant dogs way on down the driveway, traveling away from the house.
Standing in the open doorway, Mr. Tunell harked back to a phrase his father yelled at him time and time again on hot days: “Close the door! You’re letting all the hot air out!”
He laughed.
It was unusually warm outside, given the time of year. Though only late morning, it was already so hot that waves of heat had begun to form at the foot of the porch’s steps. Even with the air conditioner on, it was only cool enough inside the house so that one wouldn’t melt. Maybe the heat was getting to him. He looked back at his granddaughter, who was definitely sitting on the couch, not floating a few inches above it. True, the phonebooks were there, but flying just wasn’t possible. He didn’t know what he had been thinking. And her hair did look blond from where he was standing, squinting to make it so. He glanced warily down the dirt driveway again. The little men riding their dogs, or whatever he thought he saw the first time, were gone.
He sighed, feeling relieved.
Mr. Tunell grimaced as he stepped out onto the porch. He forgot to slam the door close to annoy his wife. Making his way across the old wood porch, he nearly tripped over a small, green parcel, which lay smack dab in the middle of it. “The imbecile,” he said, thinking it was the mail carrier who had left it there. He kicked the package roughly against the wall of the house, making whatever it was inside jangle noisily.
Feeling even better than before, he descended the porch steps. He let out a cackle at his stupidity a few moments ago.
“IRS? Ha!”
He was in a good mood now, amused at how stupid he had been thinking those three short men were from the IRS. He kept bursting into laughter at odd moments as he ventured around the large farm, looking for his men.
Then, for some reason, when he couldn’t imagine any funny jokes to connect “little people” with “IRS,” he rather stupidly became angry again. This was, of course, bad news for his farmhands, especially when he found them doing exactly as they had been instructed, yet producing poorer results than what they would have if left well alone.

Something I don’t know what it is, but something is in the woods, something primal and old, something tired, something pure evil, Something very fucking big, something that predates all of this that nothing we made or can make will ever be able to stop. Do you know that feeling that you’re being watched? This thing is so big that it doesn’t give you that feeling. It has eyes everywhere, so many that you can’t tell whether you are looking at it or the woods, maybe it is the woods, and we’ve always lived with it, something older than the big bang or whatever came before it. Something older than our concept of God or God itself. When it moves the forest moves with it, it is the forest. One of those things that came long before humans or plants, names, rocks or sound. It can remain shapeless, which means it can remain deathless and it is not restricted to our space nor the blue rock that is the earth, something that attempting to rationalize or size up would reduce the hardest men to tears and screams of pure insanity and terror. It comes from a place in this hostile universe that is savage, hungry, and primal to its core, a place our god ran from when he created this. It’s always watched us, but we are not and never will be big enough for it to care. Few men have seen it and fewer men have understood it. None survive. To see it is to meet fate, something so terrible and large and beautiful and bizarre shatters the mind and soul. Something so big that death can’t escape it. Death simply takes us to a different place, and whatever piece he takes with him takes us to a place where IT IS. Maybe it isn’t evil, just primal. Older than concepts and our small insignificant differences that we so desperately attempt to use to get ahead. It doesn’t matter, nothing matters and only one thing is certain. There is something in the woods.

I wake up again in the cold sweat that I’ve become used to. It’s that same dream that always comes after she disappeared. I never used to dream. Kelsey said it’s because I had no imagination. What I wouldn’t give for her to say that to me just one more time, but that’s why I’m here isn’t it? The dream gets longer, more vivid the further I follow her. It must mean I’m getting close. I pull over at the motel where he said it would happen and stare into the woods across the street. I feel a strange pulling sensation the longer I stare, and I have to force myself to look away. I’m in the right place, I know it.

“Chuck. You’ve been here all day and all night for over a week. You need sleep.” Bob says as he sits up straight at his desk.
“I’ll sleep when I catch this fuck.” I say as I down yet another cup of coffee.
“Chief has been talking about putting us both on sabbatical after this case. He said he might not wait and just let Morris and Rogers take over.” He says, standing to meet me at the board.
“Those two dumbasses couldn’t find water in the ocean. We almost got…... get me 10^th precinct on the line and call in the SWAT team, I know who it is.” I say putting my coat on and heading down to my car.
The triple murder case was closed. Turns out the owner of a local butcher shop had the idea that selling high end restaurants human meat would be a grand money-making scheme. What was left of his victims were found in a storage locker 5 miles from the shop. 3 officers retired after the case was closed. Bob and I were given a month-long sabbatical for our troubles. I decided that the joint savings account could take the hit and Kelsey and I should commence our delayed honeymoon in the Bahamas.
I opened the door of my apartment and expected to be greeted by Kelsey, the brochure in my hand ready to drop the happiest bombshell in the last 6 months. Instead, I was greeted by silence. At first, I thought rational husband thoughts, after all it was 10 AM on a Tuesday, and she was a full-time accountant. And then I see the little piece of paper that would alter the course of my life forever.
DON’T FOLLOW. I LOVE YOU. – Kelsey
I would spend the next few days in a drunken stupor, going through the divorcee grief process, waiting to be served from a different state or a post card with a new man on it, but nothing came. A week went by, and nothing came. I called, I texted, I emailed to no avail. I tried to reach her parents, her siblings, all to no avail. I would spend hours staring at the note trying to find something, anything that would lead me to her, and as if my pathetic state was so moving that it caught the attention of something beyond our realm, I was thrown a cosmic bone. A glint of light would expose the symbol drawn in invisible ink. This is where having an old flame in the FBI comes in handy and soon after calling in a few favors, I received the phone call.
“Yknow, it’s not every day that you get something from a secret organization, I’m still amazed that you even found it.” Syd muses.
“I’m a detective that’s kind of my thing.” I say, taking another drag of my cigarette as I stare out into the skyline.
“Well, I hate to be the bearer of bad news chucky, but these guys are good, I’ve found jack shit on the internet about it aside from a few scattered remnants here and there.”
“Do you have a general location? I get the feeling that this isn’t a symbol you find just anywhere.”
“A few scattered carvings on trees, a few tattoos. Give me two seconds…. Alright, I’ve narrowed it down. North Carolina ringing any bells?”
I almost drop my cigarette.
“She went home.” I say, feeling like an idiot for not thinking of it sooner.
“Look, I know what you’re thinking, but let’s try and think rational here, I don’t know if it’s a good idea that you just go stomping around her neck of the woods. People leave each other all the time…”
“SHE WOULDN’T LEAVE ME.” I almost scream into the phone.
Almost a minute of silence passes.
“I’ll give you a call if I find anything more. Don’t do anything stupid.” She hangs up before I can say another word.
As I walk to board the plane, I get a strange feeling that I’m being watched. I look around to see who’s making the hair on the back of my neck raise until I see him. He’s tall and wears a black jacket and jeans. A long beard covers his face, and his eyes are almost white with cataracts, but somehow, I know that he still sees me. He continues walking towards me and I feel my hand drift into my pocket and feel the cold metal of the pocketknife. I wait until he stands next to me and as he’s walking, I hear him say one word.
“Usurper.”
The word has burned itself into my mind and stays with me until I drift into sleep on the flight.
That’s when I had the first dream.
I stand in the clearing looking at the tree line of the woods. I can see the trees begin to move ever so slightly until it makes some sort of face. It blinks.
I wake with a start as the flight attendant nudges me back into consciousness.
“Sir, the plane has landed.” She says with a smile that is a little too wide. I notice that we are the only ones still on the plane and I begin to feel the hair on my arms rise. She turns to walk off and then turns around to look at me one last time.
“For her sake Usurper, don’t interfere.” She says and she steps into the terminal.
I drive to her hometown of Troy, trying to figure out what the hell was going on. Usurper? Interfere? What the fuck is going on here? The thoughts plague my mind until I reach her parents’ house. I see the smoke from miles away. At first, I think it’s just a garbage fire until I turn down the dirt road that leads to the house and can almost taste the acrid vapor. I continue down the winding path and stop at the smoldering remains of the foundation. There is not a single inch of the house that hasn’t been turned to ash or charred wood. No fire trucks. No cops. No ambulances. What the fuck is going on here.
I decide I need to try and get some face to face with the locals and so I head to the bar closest to her former home.
I enter the bar and pull up a chair. The Bartender walks up and slaps his hands on the counter.
“What can I get you?” he says cheerily. The bar is empty except for the two of us and I can tell he’s appreciative of the company.
“Whisky Sour.” I say, which warrants a strange look from him.
“You new around here?” He says with an analytical tone.
“How could you tell?” I say as I count the cash in my wallet.
“It ain’t every day I got folks asking for fancy drinks like that.”
“You got Jack?”
“Yeah.”
“You got Coke?”
“Yep.”
“What’s the next thing do you think I’m gonna ask?” I say, finger gunning him and trying my best to force a disarming smile.
“Single or Double?” He says returning a middle finger.
“Double.”
“Gotcha, want to keep the tab open?”
“Sure.”
He slides me the drink and then pulls up his own stool from behind the bar.
“So, what brings you to town?” he says, eyeballing me like I’m a new exhibit at the zoo.
“Looking for someone. Think you could help?”
“Town ain’t all that big Yankee. You a cop?” He says with a grin.
“How’d you know I was a cop?” I say, surprised at his analysis.
“Accent, Walk, Talk, you’re probably also carrying despite the fact that says no firearms on the premises. Plus, the fact that you’re looking for someone. So, what are you? Marshall? DEA? FBI?” he says, counting on his fingers as he picks me apart.
“So that makes me federal off the bat? Not just a new deputy?” I say, returning with my own sarcasm.
“I run a dive bar in bumfuck nowhere; I know every single cop in this county. Plus, nobody moves here by choice.” Swirling his finger in the air with a laugh.
I laugh with him as I realize that there isn’t a point in trying to hide it, and if anyone knew what was going on around here it was probably him.
“So, what are you doing here?” He says leaning in.
“I’m looking for someone.” I say leaning in and sliding a 100$ bill across the counter.
“Who?” he says, eyeing the bill.
“My wife.”
He throws his head back and laughs.
“Ah yes, one for details. Does this wife of yours have a name? Also keep the money, I ain’t a man who needs to be bribed for his help.” He says sliding the money back to me.
“Kelsey Smith.”
Almost as if on queue, the doors of the bar fly open, and 3 men walk in. They walk almost in lock step and carry easy smiles that deeply unsettle me. The same smile that the flight attendant had.
The bartender stiffens at the sight of them and becomes noticeably uncomfortable.
“Terry.” The leader says warmly, stepping forward to the bar.
“We’re about to close.” Terry says as he begins shutting the lights and jukebox off.
“We can help!” and with a wave of his hand, he disperses the other two to stand at the opposing sides of the bar, blocking our exits.
While the goons look passively on, the smiles still on their faces, the leader pulls up a seat right next to mine.
“My name is Jeremy.” he says, extending his hand in a polite but almost forceful manner.
“Pleasure” I say, sipping from my drink and leaving him hanging. He puts his hand on the counter and the smile on his face grows, almost as if he were baring his teeth.
“You’re new in town. What’s your name.” He says, angling his entire body towards me.
“Charles.”
“Well Charles. Allow me to cut to the chase, have you had the dreams yet?”
This sends a shiver up my spine, and I feel sweat break out across my forehead.
“I’ll take that as a yes. Now, I understand that you are stepping into an environment that you would consider…. Foreign” he says motioning his hands across the bar.
“But when two people call you the same name before you even get to a destination, one must ask himself. Is this the place I should be going?” He sounds like my old elementary school principal, the prick always knew how to talk down to me, keeping perfectly calm but managing to make my blood boil.
“I’m just looking for my wife. I will leave when I find out what happened to her.” I say, staring into my drink.
“There is something at work here that many people have put a lot of effort into, Kelsey included, and we will not have the usurper come and disrupt our efforts.” At the mention of her name I turn to look at him. His face is off. His eyes are wild and almost manic, and his lips are quivering ever so slightly.
“What do you want.” I growl and feel my hand drift to my waist.
“Leave. Never return. I’m sure you know the spiel.” He says. His tone has changed as well. If he wasn’t threatening me then he is now.
“And if I don’t?” I say, sparing a glance at Terry. His hands are under the bar now, most likely reaching for a piece he has underneath the counter.
“We will spare no detail.” Jeremy says, as the veins in his neck begin to bulge.
“Alright, you’ve sold me. I’ll leave.” I say as I stand, put the hundred back on the counter and stand from my seat.
“I’m so happy we decided to be reasonable.” Jeremy says, his face returning to its normal shape.
Without a further word, I get in my car and begin speeding down the road. It’s past 9PM and I’d bet my retirement on the fact that they’re going to follow me, and they sure as hell aren’t going to let me leave this town alive.
I drive for about 10 minutes down the dark and winding roads, long enough for me to realize that I haven’t seen anyone else on the road, which is strange in its own right. My thoughts are interrupted as a pair of headlights appear in my rear-view window and gunshots start ringing off into the night. One nails my taillight, another peppers my trunk. I speed up as my side mirror disappears with another crack. I pull out my own pistol and fire blindly through the rear windshield. One of the headlights on the truck goes out and a second later the truck veers off the side of the road, its course being intercepted by a tree. I look at my pistol in shock. And feel myself chuckle as I pull off to the side of the road. “Still got it.” I say to myself.
I reload and step out of my car and go to inspect the wreckage of my failed assassins. I’m not shocked to find that it’s Jeremy and his 2 goons from the bar. One of them was sent through the front window and face first into the tree, his body resembling something of a meat accordion. The other is slumped in the front seat, a noticeable indention in his skull after he hit the steering wheel and a penny sized hole in his forehead. I look around the truck to see the back door open and a trail of blood leading into the forest. I see Jeremy sitting against a tree. His breathing is labored, his legs are mangled, and he clutches his shoulder as he tries to plug the new hole, I gave him a few minutes earlier. I keep my gun on him as I approach.
“What happened man? I thought we were gonna be reasonable.” I say as I continue walking towards him.
He looks up at me. His smile is long gone, and only rage stains his face.
“Cmon then, get it over with.” He spits at me.
“I’m in no rush Jeremy, I need to ask you some questions.”
“I’m not telling you shit, Usurper.” In response to his name calling, I kick one of his legs which causes him to yelp like a beaten dog.
“Let’s start with that. What’s this Usurper thing about?” I say, dragging a log for me to sit on.
“You are the arch enemy. You will destroy everything my people have built. You and yours will be the ones to usher the destruction of all.” Despite his truly terrible condition, I’m impressed at his vigor and energy.
“I’ve started having dreams Jeremy. Something tells me you know why.”
He laughs at this, a harsh wheezing that sounds like the irony is worse than his pain.
“You moron. You’re apart of this, all of it.” he says, as he leans his head back on to the tree and stares into the sky.
“I’m a part of what. You keep saying these things that don’t make any sense. The only reason I’m here is for Kelsey, you know who she is, you know where she is. Tell me, and I’ll call an ambulance.” I say as I snap my fingers to make sure this smug bastard is staying awake.
“All will be revealed in due time.” He says it, reciting it like a mantra.
“Alright then, I tried the nice way.” I say smacking his hand away and sticking my thumb into the bullet hole in his shoulder.
He winces.
“Where.”
I dig. He moans.
“The Fuck.”
I dig deeper. He cries out.
“Is she.”
I push to the bone.
“STOP STOP. I’ll TALK.” He howls.
I pull my thumb out and rub it on his shirt.
“Sunset. Roadway inn. Cross the street and walk until you hear the songs.” He says as he coughs and tries to compose himself.
“That wasn’t so hard, was it?” I say.
“May it tear you limb from limb usurper.” He says, and then pulling a knife from his waist belt and draws it across his throat.
I stand in shock as he slumps over and gurgles out his last few breaths.

As I stand in the motel room, I do a last-minute check. I take my old hunting rifle and make sure the scope is still working. I tap all of my equipment and jump up and down to make sure nothing rattles. A gnawing feeling in the back of my mind tells me that I came unprepared, but it’s too late to back out. I find my resolve and step outside. I’m in the right place. I stand in the spot where I stand in the dream. It’s almost as if I can see the forest stare back at me, and without further thought I walk across the street and make my way into the trees. I don’t walk far when I can start hearing the songs. A bizarre chant carried on the wind, in a language that I’ve never heard. I can then see the firelights in the distance as the songs grow louder. I see a hill and climb it, and then crawl until I reach the top. What I see draws the breath from my body.
A massive pit. A black hole in the middle of the forest. Standing around it is a ring of torches and behind it stand over 100 people. They’re naked and are covered head to toe in bizarre tattoos, with the same joyous smiles that Jeremy and his men had plastered across their faces. At the front of the pit stands an altar and that’s when I see her. Standing at the edge of the pit is the love of my life, naked, tattooed and smiling. Beside her stands a man, who raises his hands and silences the song.
“It seems that everyone has finally arrived.” He calls out. Which ignites a cheer throughout the crowd. Shit. Theres no way he knows I’m here.
“YOU’RE TIME HAS COME. RISE. CLAIM THE STARS.” The man screams and falls to his knees.
I then see movement in the pit, and giant tendrils rise and begin to plant themselves on the sides of the hole. The man rises and stands behind Kelsey, who he then begins to push towards the hole. She resists and begins to push back. I decide that I’ve seen enough and line the scope of the rifle with the center of his chest. Breathe out. And squeeze the trigger. I feel the push as the shot vibrates throughout my body and a hole appears in the man’s chest. Silence falls and then screams ring out. “USURPER”
Before I understand what’s happening, they’re on top of me and dragging me towards the pit. They beat me with their fists and clubs, tearing my clothes off and painting the tattoos on my body. I try to fight but they hold me down and drag me to the altar. I am brought to my knees before the altar and look at Kelsey. She is joined by an old woman who raises her hand to bring the crowd to silence.
“THE FALSE VESSAL HAS BEEN DISPOSED. THE USURPER HAS COME TO LEAD US TO THE STARS.”
I’m brought to my feet and led to the edge of the pit. I feel a hand grab mine. I look to see Kelsey holding on to me. She pulls me into an embrace, pulls away, and leans into my ear.
“Trust me.” She says, and then shoves me into the abyss.
I’m falling. I fall for what seems like hours and seconds. I finally land. I begin to sink, and I realize I haven’t landed on the ground but something warm. Something alive. I then feel the tendrils wrap around me and pull me in. I sink and as I sink, I begin to see. A billion-year plot, eons of deliberation, plans, executions, all of history, every hour, every minute, every second all converging to center on this very moment. The big bang, the creation of all life, and everything before it. I begin to feel an urge, the urge to claim, the urge to conquer, the urge to take. I rise. I continue to rise until I rise out of the pit and into the sky to go and claim the stars.

FYI, this is a story COLLECTION. Lots of standalones technically. So, you can basically start to read at any chapter, no pre-read of the other chapters needed technically (other than maybe getting better descriptions of characters than: Adam Vir=human, Krill=antlike alien, Sunny=tall alien, Conn=telepathic alien). The numbers are (mostly) only for organization of posts and continuity.
OC Written by Charlie Stastarrfallknightrise,
Typed up and then posted here by me.
Proofreading and language check for some chapters by u/Finbar9800 u/BakeGullible9975 u/Didnotseemecomein and u/medium_jock
Future Lore and fact check done by me.
”What’s real is family!” – Some bald guy, I don’t know.
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Adam turned heads as he walked through the station.
Glowing, grungy neon lights lit him up from either side though the forest of bodies parted before him like a sea. Everyone here looked more than a little unnerved at his presence, and hurriedly scampered away into the dark alleys upon the station.
It wasn't a big place, a trading hub not so far from the metallic belt, so many of these people probably weren't here for illegal reasons, but based on his time getting to know the criminal underbelly of the universe, he also knew the station's real reputation. And he knew the man he was looking for was likely to be here.
He would have disguised himself as Kell, but thought better of it. He wanted to keep that disguise in his arsenal if he ever had to go undercover again, and this wasn't a moment he needed to be undercover.
Behind him Sunny walked at his shoulder, holding her pearlescent spear in one hand.
She really made an impression on people these days, and he found it more than useful to have a saint on his side.
He walked down the hallway through a set of doors and then into a wide cargo bay. Someone was playing rap music somewhere, and he could hear it echoing off the rough metal. Graffiti tagged the walls on almost every surface, including the floor, and the rattle of metal on metal drowned out whatever lyrics there might have been. He stepped further into the room as out of place as he had ever been.
Adam had never been involved in criminal affairs. Beside his brief stint as Kall and his accidental time in the Turma Prison, he had been a straight arrow all his life. He had never (willingly) done drugs (on purpose at least), never stolen anything, never been arrested (for an actual normal reason). And it certainly didn't help that he had to run here from an appointment with Admiral Kelly, and so was still wearing his UNSC uniform, which was pristinely pressed, light grey and caused him to stand out like a drop of white paint against a black background.
The music crew louder as he stepped inside.
The room was full of shuttles, or some of them were shuttles and others were more accurately jets.
Some of them were old, held together by paint and duct tape, while others glowed sleek with outlandish new paint jobs that included skulls and flames and chains. A group of men and women sat off to one side. The women wore very little, just string bikini tops and cutoff jeans shorts. One of the women, with long dark hair tied back in a ponytail was wearing jeans and a spiked leather jacket.
A lot of the men wore baggy pants, tank tops, with lines of tattoos crawling up their arms and necks.
Similar looking people loitered around the ships, tinkering with the engines and polishing surfaces already too shiny to even need more polishing.
The woman was the first to see him, sitting up straight with the rattle of leather and spikes,
"You don't have any business here. Get out."
That caused the others to turn and look, and the group of people bristled like an angry dog, forming into a tight group, shoulders wide, arms out chests puffed up.
Adam stopped a few feet away.
"I want to speak with the man called Do… Donovan Red."
"Ol Donni ain't here."
One of the men said, spitting onto the floor,
"Now git!"
"I know he's here. His ship is parked in the hanger on deck E."
A couple more men had wandered up to join, and he spotted the telltale sign of weapons shoved hastily into their pants.
He held his hands out to the sides,
"Listen, I just want to talk."
"Then come back with a warrant, pig."
One of them snapped. The guy was an ugly looking thug with a completely shaved head and bare chest. He had a pot belly from drinking, but he still had one of the girls hanging off his arm shying behind him from for protection.
Adam sighed,
"I'm not here to talk with him about any of his activities as legal or illegal as they may be. I'm not interested in what he does or who he does it with. I am here to ask him for a favor."
There was a shift about the room, and the woman from before stood up, resting a hand on her hip,
"The golden boiyo of the fancy schmancy UNSC wants a favor from ol’ Donni?"
She barked a laugh and the men and women behind her laughed too.
"In your dreams, boy."
The group turned, laughing and he felt his insides churn a bit with rage. He went to take a step forward but took a deep breath and stopped,
"He will want to reconsider…"
They ignored him,
"If he does me a favor that means I owe him… Think about that, one of the most powerful men in the GA or the UNSC and I will owe him a favor."
He raised his voice,
"Your boss would have to be pretty stupid to avoid an offer like that."
There was a pause around the room, and then Adam felt something cold press up against his temple,
"And you have to be pretty stupid to call him stupid."
Adam turned his head just slightly feeling the barrel of the gun pressed below his ear.
As he moved the gun moved. Sunny hadn't bothered to deal with the guy, and he knew why almost immediately.
With one lightning fast move he reached up and slapped the gun out of the man's sloppy grip. It clattered to the floor and went spinning away under one of the shuttles. Adam then stepped back and elbowed the man in the face. The man staggered back and Adam finished him off with a kick to the sternum that sent him flying back into a barrel, which tipped over with an echoing thud and rolled slowly away.
He turned back to the others who were hastily reaching for their weapons,
"The next person who points a gun at me is getting a spear through the throat."
Sunny stepped forward with a hungry look on her face.
The group paused,
"You're UNSC, you can't do that."
He crossed his arms,
"I won't be doing anything, but I can't guarantee that my partner here won't. You know Drev have their own minds and traditions, and who am I to give a Drev saint orders… all I could do would be managing the clean up afterwards…"
There was a pause in the room as everyone nervously looked between each other.
"Why don't we all just calm down."
The voice echoed in from the back, and the entire group turned to see a man walk up through the isle.
He wore a tight black T shirt that bulged around his biceps, and when he walked, he walked with the confidence of a man not used to being out of control.
The man walked right up to him, unperturbed by their height difference, slowly looking him up and then down.
”Admiral, I was expecting someone with your reputation to be a little bit… older.”
Donovan Red was shorter than Adam had expected, but still looked commanding.
He was about to tell him that just for the sake of it, but Sunny, seemingly already knowing what he was thinking, interrupted him,
”We have a job to do Adam, try not to upset him.”
Once again Adam couldn’t decide if he she love her or hate her, for turning his own references against him. Before he could react though, Donavan addressed him again,
"Anakin hmm? Fits but no, definitely not… ah I got it! You shouldn't have come here… Cinderella!”*
Adam raised an eyebrow,
"Cinderella?”
The man shrugged,
"Yeah, you got that vibe, all dressed up like a princess."
He nodded to Sunny,
"And hanging out with woodland creatures."
Sunny did not look amused,
"Actually, that would be snow white, or sleeping beauty, as I recall Cinderella only talked to mice."
The man snorted,
"My apologies for now knowing my princesses better, Cinder-ellla."
Adam didn't respond, didn't back up. Instead, he inched forward so he was towering over the man,
"Look I'm not here to bother you or your men-"
"Too late for that don't you think, princess?"
The men and women behind him laughed.
Adam sighed,
"If you will let me finish. I assume that you got off your ass and came over here because you heard what I was saying to your cronies?"
Adam stood his ground as the entire group inched in. It was partly out of show, and partly because he knew Sunny and him together could take this crowd easy.
Red looked up at him with his head tilted to one side,
"Tell you what."
He stepped back and turned to look at his men,
"I'll talk to you about your little favor, but-"
He held up a finger,
"Only if you prove yourself worthy of my time."
Adam sighed. This was going to be good.
"And how, exactly do I do that?”
"Simple.”
The man said with a smirk,
"You just have to win a little race."
[…]
Eris looked up at the pictures on the wall. There were a lot of them to choose from, and she spent some time wandering around the living room, looking up at all the images. She knew these people, or at least it felt like she did… Through Adam's memories she knew Martha: intelligent and protective, Jim: strong and loyal, Maya: sweet and adventurous, Jeremy: friendly and changeable, David: perfect and charming, Thomas: a general hot mess, but someone who cared deeply about things.
She remembered all of them, but at the same time that felt like invading their privacy.
They didn't know her, so it wasn't fair of her to claim to know them.
She sensed someone behind her and turned to find Martha looking up at the pictures with her. She pointed up at one and Eris followed,
"That was last Christmas together before Adam went to space."
She sighed and shook her head,
”A lot has changed since then."
Jim followed behind and held out a cup,
"Can you eat human food? Sorry if you can't, I just assumed."
She took the cup,
"No its ok, most of my insides are human."
She had taken off her hoodie and now let it rest on the back of Martha's rocking chair.
Jim went to stand next to his wife and looked Eris over with his head slightly tilted.
Eris hid behind her long dark hair, hair that reached past her butt. She wore it long, not only to hide behind, but because she thought it might help to cover the starborn ribbons which trailed from her back.
"You know what Martha… she looks a lot like Maya doesn't she?”
Martha turned to look and Eris shuffled her feet,
"You know what, I didn't see it before but she does.”
She elbowed him,
”Definitely has the Vir family nose."
He grunted,
"Be glad she got the nose and not the ears."
They both laughed and Martha motioned her to take a seat,
"Why don't you sit down and tell us what brings you all across the galaxy dear."
Eris sat shyly on the edge of her seat, nervously running her hands through her hair.
"Well... um, nothing really, it's just that I... I had been taking care of the other hybrids and... and well I kind of got burnt out and couldn't do it anymore, so I... wanted to start living for myself you know?"
The two humans nodded sagely.
"But I didn't know where to start... So, I thought I would get to know my roots a bit better. I am half human... Well DNA says a little bit more than half human, so I thought I might start with you. I wanted to see Adam, but he seems to be gone, and I can't reach him."
Martha nodded,
"It has been harder and harder lately especially after…”
Eris's eyes widened as she read the thoughts forming in the woman's mind,
"Someone is trying to kill him!?”
The two paused, but then got back into stride without so much as a look between each other. Eris kicked herself. People always hated being around her when they knew she could read minds.
Here she was driving people away again.
"Yes... someone has attempted to kill him in the past. We aren't sure if it will happen again, but we do worry about him."
Eris felt her insides go cold, she could feel it through the mental link to his parents, and she could feel it inside herself as well.
Adam Vir couldn't die, not before she got to know him better, and certainly not if it was going to hurt his parents, who were definitely some of the nicest people she had ever met.
She had to do something.
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Thanks for reading! As you saw in the title, this is a cross posted story written by starrfallknightrise and I'll just upload some of it here for you guys, if you are interested and want to read ahead, the original story-collection can be found on tumblr or wattpad to read for free. (link above this text under "OC:..." ) It is the Empyrean Iris story collection by starfallknightrise. Also, if you want to know more about the story collection i made an intro post about it, so feel free to check that out to see what other great characters to look forward to! (Link also above this text). I have no affiliations to the author; just thought I’d share some of the great stories you might enjoy a lot!
Obviously, I have Charlie’s permission to post this and for the people already knowing the stories, or starting to read them: If you follow the link and check out the story you will see some differences. I made some small (non-artistic) changes, mainly correcting writing mistakes, pronoun correction and some small additional info here and there of things which were not thought of/forgotten or even were added/changed in later stories (like the “USS->UNSC” prefix of Stabby, Chalar=/->Sunny etc). As well as some "biggemajor" changes in descriptions and info’s for the same stringency/continuity reason. That can be explained by the story collection being, well a story collection at the start with many standalone-stories just starring the same people, but later on it gets more to a stringent storyline with backstories and throwbacks. (For example Adam Vir has some HEAVY scars over his body, following his bones, which were not really talked about up till half the collection, where it says it covers his whole body and you find out via backflash that he had them the whole time and how he got them, they just weren't mentioned before. However, I would think a doctor would at least see these scars before that, especially since he gets analyzed, treated and goes shirtless/in T-shirts in some stories). So TLDR: Writing and some descriptions are slightly changed, with full OK from the author, since he himself did not bother to correct these things before.